Operation Retcon
by Some1Else
Summary: Solid Snake discovers that the road to taking back the Patriots is paved with plenty of misadventures.
1. Genesis

**Story #7 : Operation Retcon.**

**By Some1Else.**

**Chapter 1 : Genesis.**

Big Boss was alive and well.

There were so many things wrong with that thought. Snake took another drink of the fruity concoction he'd mixed together to stifle his thoughts. Just a few hours ago, they had boarded a rather fancy yacht and were on their way to a private island. There was so much to be bothered by and yet Big Boss was acting like nothing was wrong. Snake sighed. FOX-DIE lay asleep in his heart, waiting to be awakened by the terror of battle. He wondered how else it had changed in response to the alterations Naomi had made to it. So far he had not had an attack since his most recent mission, which was good because he didn't have that many temporary vaccines on hand.

He would be able to see Naomi soon if he needed to. Campbell and Mei Ling would be with her. They had easily been recovered from the debacle of the last mission since they had been in the company of Big Boss' men. Big Boss himself, the arch enemy of the Patriots, was sitting on a couch at the far end of the room working on a Powerpoint presentation through Open Office on a Dell laptop still running Windows XP because he refused to adopt any other version. Apparently he couldn't be bothered to afford a measly copy of Microsoft Office Student either despite the fact that he was a billionaire.

Big Boss was putting the finishing touches on his report, an encyclopedia that detailed everything that had happened this far. Snake imagined he was also planning his operation. He refused to answer any questions. Everyone left him alone. His other companions were lost in their own worlds. Otacon was playing with a Miku Hatsune nendoroid he'd borrowed from Chill Penguin's personal collection. Apparently she had nine. One to play with, one to keep in the box, one to lend out, and six to scalp on Ebay when the time was just right.

Raiden was watching a movie in the next room over. By the sound of his goofy laugh, it had to be a comedy. That meant nothing. Raiden had a poor sense of humor. Meryl was looking out of a window a few feet away, a captive in her own mental prison. Snake could feel her watching him from time to time as he sat with his back to her, hunched over the bar and trying to enjoy himself. All he had been doing was providing her with a place to stay while she got her act together. What else were friends for? Snake should have known better than to let her in.

His life had been spiraling out of control even before that. He should have never moved back to Alaska. Snake had told himself it would only be for a little while since he liked it so much there. It would be quite a change from Manhattan and he deserved some rest after the Big Shell incident. Otacon promised to try and find a new lead on the Patriots and followed him as only a fiercely loyal friend would.

Then Ocelot appeared and right behind him were all the people Snake thought he had killed. It was a surreal nightmare and somehow they had all become friends. The memories they shared were quite grand. Vulcan Raven's birthday party would never be topped. There was still candy and other residuals left over from the Halloween blowout. Snake missed his time at the Praying Mantis working under Psycho Mantis and wondered how Terra was doing. None of those incidents should have happened. But they had. All that time Otacon couldn't find any new leads on the Patriots. They had simply vanished, but it was clear that their influence over the world was still at work.

With no clear leads, they had no direction. There was nothing they could do. And then Big Boss had shown up. Snake looked over at him as he began pounding on his track pad to try and make the computer do something he couldn't figure out. Through that mask of sheer frustration at technology, Snake saw eagerness to spill a big secret. He knew everything. Perhaps before the day was out he'd tell them if he ever figured out how to apply a nice background to his slides. Snake took another long drink. He glanced at a nearby calender, May seventh. Almost two and a half years after the Big Shell incident. Snake finished his drink and pushed the glass away. That was enough for now and he was only adding fuel to the fire. Snake pulled out a carton of cigarettes and lit one up. At least nicotine wouldn't make his mind run wild.

He had to be more optimistic. They were in the company of Big Boss. His legendary status hadn't been gained by his feats as a soldier alone. Big Boss was a brilliant strategist. So long as Big Boss remained in control of the operation, they stood a small chance at stopping the Patriots. Somebody had to. A scream from topside caught everyone's attention. Chill Penguin and her cousin came rushing into the room, clad only in their bikini's. They were covered in water, which did not mix well with the sun tan lotion they had on.

"If you're going to talk, stick to one language!" Ocelot roared.

For some odd reason, they were both fluent in all of the languages spoken across Asia and they enjoyed switching them around at random at the end of every other sentence. It was cute at first, but it had quickly become annoying. Big Boss motioned for both of them to leave the room. Since they couldn't go out on the deck, they lowered their heads in defeat and went somewhere else. With nothing else to do, Snake left the cabin and went to see what Ocelot had been preoccupied with before Chill Penguin and Mitsuki decided they wanted a golden tan.

He was in the perfect mood to bother. Two of Big Boss' personal guards gave him a nod as he went above deck. They were members of the League of Five, which was but one of many PMC's Big Boss had hired to work for him. There seemed to be no limit to what he could buy. His bottomless wallet was made deeper by wise investments, a few tricks, and some other methods he had learned from the Patriots when he had been part of their organization. At this rate Big Boss would simply not run out of money.

Three more guards were to be found out on deck, but they were dressed like civilians and had their weapons hidden nearby. Snake had been certain they were never seen without their combat gear on during an assignment. They must have made a very special exception for the sake of their current client. None of them looked anything like Snake had expected. They were as silent as ever, which did little to soothe Snake's nerves.

Snake believed they were connected on a psychic level. Though they never said anything, they always knew what to do. Perhaps this bizarre trait was more powerful than words. After all, they were not limited to security at the Shopety-Shop-Shop Mall. Some of the senior members had done work in the Middle East. Their credentials were solid and packed neatly into the little booklet Big Boss had been given when he went out shopping for private security companies. He wouldn't say how many troops he had in total, but he did mention that he picked up the League of Five because they were creepy. This was no concern of theirs as they were apparently going to topple the Patriots without their help.

The weather was beautiful and the ocean was quite calm. A warm breeze carried an intense amount of humidity with it. Ocelot was at one end under the close surveillance of two guards while he went fishing in a set of clothes that were perfect for an old man on vacation. His suit was too hot to wear in these waters. Ocelot turned his attention to Snake at his approach. He was wearing a set of reflective sunglasses and had convinced one guard to hold his beer for him while another burdened the weight of an iHome stereo system playing horrible music.

"That submarine will never find us." Snake said.

"You're just paranoid."

Ocelot snapped his fingers together. The guard holding his beer came closer. He finished the can off and crushed it against the servants head and then passed it back to him. The guard tossed it in a blue recycling bin and retrieved another can of beer out of a cooler. All of this was done wordlessly with the smooth efficiency that was so characteristic of the League of Five. Snake stole a beer, figuring it would set a little better than the hard liquor he'd been drinking. He recalled an old rhyme that warned alcoholics to only drink beer after they had drank whiskey and not before. It could have been the other way around. Snake didn't care at the moment.

"You're looking more ugly than usual. Are you always like this right after a mission?" Ocelot remarked.

Less than a week ago, Snake had been sneaking around the base Big Boss had captured in Alaska. He wasn't sure what they had been looking for, but it was there that Snake decided to join Big Boss on his quest to annihilate the Patriots. Since it had not ended with a definitive bang, Snake was still a little jittery. He shrugged in response to Ocelot's question.

"Well, no worries. By the way, what are you going to do about your dogs?" Ocelot asked.

"What do you care?"

"I'm entitled to be nice every so once in a great while to balance out my karma. Is the League still taking care of them?"

"No. We can't take them with us. They're being looked after elsewhere since my house is probably a hotspot by now."

Snake stared off into the distance. He could barely see the other yacht ahead of them. Anna, Mei Ling, and Campbell were on that ride. There were a few other guests as well, but Big Boss didn't bother saying who. It was all part of the show and Big Boss seemed to be reveling in his production as everyone aboard squirmed, eager to know what exactly was going on.

"You should tell me something I don't know. I'll act dumb just to make Big Boss happy." Snake said.

"That's not hard for you and I just can't. It would break his heart."

"How about a hint?"

"You want a hint?"

"Yes, please."

Ocelot thought about it for a moment.

"Press the circle button repeatedly. . ."

Snake held up his hand to stop him. Ocelot chuckled. He wasn't going to get anywhere. Rockit by Herbie Hancock began playing on the iHome. Snake left Ocelot to his fishing. Chill Penguin came bounding up the stairs and Snake had half a mind to go hide somewhere. She handed him a box of Sakuma Drops and then went skipping towards Ocelot. He was given a box of the treats as well and waited until she was out of sight to throw them into the ocean. This was all so boring. Snake found his way to one of the personal cabins and laid down on the bed for only a moment when a suffocating wave of fatigue suddenly overtook him.

It would be good to take a nap. When he woke up, they would be at the island. Drunk as he was, he didn't even have time to adjust himself before passing out in a sprawled position with his mouth partially open.

**X**

Snake stirred some hours later at the sound of a cell phone ringing to the tune of Hare Hare Yukai and he knew immediately that it didn't belong to him. His cell phone was still in Alaska, stacked with over two hundred prepaid minutes because he hardly ever used it. He awoke in pain, regretting the position he had slept in. The imprint he had left on the memory foam was still evident after he stood up and when he inspected it he could clearly see why he was feeling so sore. The phone was on the bedside table. Snake hesitated with the device. It didn't have the flip action he was used to. The phone slid open, revealing a keypad perfect for an obnoxious friend who loved to send text messages.

"Are you awake yet, stupid?" Big Boss asked.

"Yes." Snake replied while he stretched.

"Finally! Meryl and Otacon wouldn't let me wake you up. They said doing so would be dangerous. I knew what they meant. I'm kind of the same way. It's been three hours since you clocked out and we're just now getting ready for the big presentation. We've already docked and if you can't find your way to the house than you have no business here."

_Snake, wake up! _a familiar voice demanded within his head.

It was so loud that he had to grab his skull in pain and shake his head from side to side to drop the ringing out of his ears. The noise seemed to originate in the middle of his brain and billow outwards in twin trails of numbing displeasure.

_Get out of bed!_

"Otacon said we should just leave you a cell phone. Chill Penguin volunteered hers for the task."

_There's cornflakes on the table and I know how much you love Grandma's Buns so we've got some of them too!_

Snake was on his knees with his eyes nearly bulging out of his skull.

"Mantis, I know you know I'm already out of bed! Shut the hell up!"

_I'm just being jerk. _Mantis said in Snake's head at a lower volume.

"That guy is a weirdo." Big Boss said. "I'm surprised you two are friends."

"Most people make friends. Me? I don't need to. Everyone wants to befriend me. I don't ask for it. Is he really here?"

"Yes, he is." Big Boss said. "That's part of the big surprise. Hurry up to the manor before we start the party without you."

He ended the call. Snake dug the echoes out of his ears and went into the bathroom. So this was where Mantis had run off to. It was quite odd of him to leave without saying a word or placing someone in charge. Keri Nanako was waiting eagerly for her chance to take over the building in his absence, but that E-Mail never arrived in her inbox. Gazing into the mirror, Snake noticed that he was looking slightly older than usual. A bit more haggard, in fact. Definitely a change somewhere, particularly in his cheeks. His beard was getting a little feisty so he searched the bathroom for a trimmer and was not able to find one. Instead all he could come up with were a pair of scissors and a razor. For a man who kept a beard, Snake could not explain why Big Boss didn't have a trimmer in every bathroom.

Snake noticed that he was beginning to get gray hair. A very heavy weight came down upon him and he felt his gut sink. He plucked one out and stared at the strand of gray hair. His career as a mercenary flashed before him in a series of specific flashbacks that nobody would bother pressing X for because that was a stupid game mechanic. He went from that to a regular civilian in Alaska and right back to where he started. Even his time outside of combat hadn't been spent as well as he believed it could have been. Snake let the gray hair fall in the sink and exited the bedroom.

He left the yacht. The moment he stepped on the beach he felt the strange sensation of being watched. Snake tripped over something and almost face planted into the sandy soil. Something under his legs squirmed. In a flash Snake was over the figure laying camouflaged in the sand. A G36C came up from under the guard as he flailed futilely while Snake put him in a head lock. This man was wearing the same suit he had worn a week ago. Snake couldn't believe it. He thought they were new. They couldn't be that easy to mass produce.

Big Boss. Billionaire. It kind of made sense.

The sound of Mantis laughing filled his head. If he were insane, Snake figured he'd hear something like it every waking minute of his life.

_Easy, easy! He's with us!_ Mantis finally managed to say.

He then cut out. Snake hopped off of the guard.

"You moron! You should have known better than to put yourself directly in the path I'd take. You're lucky I didn't kill you!" Snake yelled. "What's your name?"

The guard didn't answer. He must have belonged to the League of Five. Snake grabbed his rifle from him and knocked him out with it. The camouflaged plate the rifle had blended in well with the sand. Snake almost dropped it once he got a good look at it. This was new. Sensing that it was no longer up against sand, the rifle reverted to a metallic black. Snake aimed the gun at the ocean. The butt of the rifle pressed up against his shirt and the gun matched its color. Interesting. He made sure it was ready to fire and stripped the guard of his handgun, which was the ever present M1911. Relieved to be armed, Snake left the beach. Snake felt more eyes watching him and couldn't help but look where he knew the guards were as he traveled along a beaten path up a hill where a fancy mansion rested in ritzy glee. One of the guards was so obvious that he whistled shrilly and pointed at him. The guard repositioned himself and Snake nodded in approval. Four of them stood at the front door, unconcealed and wearing equipment that would make the Tengu soldiers blush in embarrassment.

Chill Penguin opened the door for him before he could knock and motioned for him to come inside the foyer. He returned her phone and noted how plain the interior looked. This was a simple safe house. New, by the look and feel of things. A couple of maids were trying to set up decorations to make it less suspicious. One was putting an old typewriter on an equally old table big enough to hold just that and an ink ribbon by a staircase. Two were setting up a large HDTV in the living room. These women varied widely in ethnicity, though all of them were dressed in the same basic uniform, which was tasteful and still easy to look at without showing too much skin. Big Boss encouraged deviation as there were slight variations in how the uniform was worn amongst the maids. Some looked to be about as young as fifteen.

"Sex slaves. Or rather, that's what they would have been." Big Boss announced as he walked into the room with Chill Penguin at his side. "I buy as many as I can, ween them off of drugs, and have them work for me or return them home."

"And yet you still manage to avoid getting discovered?"

"Hey, I just look like Big Boss. What's it to you?" he asked with a wink.

"I'm sure every old man with a beard is missing their right eye."

"Let me worry about that. I know what I'm doing and no, it isn't easy. Trust me. Where did you get that gun?"

"One of your guards thinks this is Call of Duty 4."

Big Boss rolled his eyes.

"I suppose they all can't be useful. I can't have you walking around with that gun just yet. Things are going to get a little heated within the next half hour and the less weapons everyone has, the better. Please give them up."

Chill Penguin stood in front of him attentively, ready to receive the guns. Snake handed them over carefully, watching her eyes while he did so, or rather, he tried to watch her eyes. They were closed tight while she offered him a brilliant smile that was characteristic of so many anime girls out there. When she opened them for a moment to make sure that she had been given both weapons, Snake got his first good look at her eyes. They were huge. She was wearing those stupid contact lenses that magnified the eye of whomever was wearing them to ridiculous anime proportions. He tried to remember if she'd had those on before and he couldn't. Snake assumed he just had not been paying that much attention to her and he didn't plan on doing so now if he could avoid it.

In exchange for the weapons, she gave him a canister of something called Black Gum and left the scene.

_You should see her psychological profile. I'll send it to you later. _Mantis said.

_Mantis, if you value our friendship. . ._

_ Hey, I'm just talking to you. I'm not looking where I shouldn't. You need a massage._

"Let's get this over with." Big Boss said with an eager smile.

He motioned for his clone to follow him. Snake was led into a cozy home theater that was packed with familiar faces. It was a sensory overload. They all clapped when he arrived as if he were the man of the hour. Snake wasn't sure how to react. The major players were a given. He expected Campbell, Naomi, and Mei Ling to be there. The presence of Olga and Psycho Mantis surprised him. It was safe to assume that they were all part of the bigger picture in some way or Big Boss wouldn't have gone through the trouble to herd them here.

Mantis motioned for Snake to come sit down between him and Meryl. He accepted the request while Big Boss went to the front of the room. Big Boss pulled a remote out of his pocket and pressed a button. The room went dark. He pressed another button. A Powerpoint presentation made with Impress appeared on the screen with a fancy transition and highly readable font. A moody tune that accompanied the atmosphere began playing through the speakers. The first slide was titled Operation Retcon, which made Otacon snicker.

"Just a few more minutes, guys." Big Boss requested, checking his cell phone for the time.

Chill Penguin and her cousin entered the room accompanied by Anna. Edgar was perched obediently on her shoulder. Chill Penguin had a bag full of popcorn and a bottle of soda. Johnny walked in, stumbled over nothing, and then began looking around for a seat to take. Snake watched him and noted that he looked over at Meryl with a mix of anticipation and longing. His mask was off, but Snake had seen him like that earlier. He was such a pretty boy with his silky hair polished to a mirror sheen with the aid of conditioner and just so simply ignorant in his blind youth. Raiden would likely exchange hair care secrets with him.

Johnny took a seat by himself. There was still plenty of room available in this lavish home theater. All ten of Big Boss' maids came in and stood with their backs up against the wall as if they weren't allowed to take a seat. Snake grinned a little at that. There were men out there that would treat them like nothing. If Big Boss wanted to exert some control over them to get his jollies, then he probably would considering how much they must have cost.

Four guards piled in and began taking up the corners of the room. They were outfitted heavily for maximum efficiency in an upgraded version of the Tengu armor. Each carried a G36C. The XM8 had apparently been switched out in favor of a better rifle, though the M1911 was something nobody would ever get away from so long as they stuck with Big Boss. It was clear that they belonged to the League because each had an emblem of the the number five sewn on their shoulders right above their rank. The number looked like it should have been on a jersey.

"Is that everybody?" Big Boss asked.

"Yes, sir." a maid answered as she closed the doors to the room.

"Johnny, front and center."

He quickly got out of his seat and walked up to Big Boss, who showed him the remote he was carrying.

"All I have to do is press this button?" Big Boss muttered, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Yeah, and if you want to go back you press this one." Johnny said, pointing at the button he was referring to on the remote.

Big Boss nodded and shooed him back to his seat. With that, he launched into his presentation.

"Good evening and welcome to Sinbad's Hideaway. Here we have forty acres of land that is as flat as a shuffle board and ten lovely maids to meet your every need."

The maids bowed at the attention given to them.

"Please welcome my newest maid Alexis, who joins us from the Soviet Union. With her addition, I have rescued a damsel in distress from every country in the world."

Alexis bowed deeper and held steady for a moment before standing up straight.

"I suppose you're all wondering why I called you here today. Well!" Big Boss interjected very loudly to keep the snide comments at bay. "It's because you were all involved in some way or another with a series of plots staged by the Patriots. I have a lot of things to talk about this evening. Once I'm finished you are free to roam the grounds, flirt with my maids, and party it up because we're still cruising through Golden Week, boys and girls. I promise you that once it ends we're going to hit reality hard so as I've been saying, enjoy the intermission while you still can."

He let that sink in for a moment before continuing. Even though the speech wasn't very well prepared, they could all feel themselves captivated by his immense charisma.

"Now on to the first matter of business. How many of you in this room are supposed to be dead right now? Raise your hands. Don't be shy."

Mantis and Olga raised their hands without shame.

"Well, guess what?" Big Boss asked brightly. "You're both clones."

**NEXT TIME :** As the briefing continues, the team learns why exactly things have come to be the way they are when the self-proclaimed guest of honor arrives to trash the party and eliminate Ocelot.


	2. Spoilers

**Chapter 2 : Spoilers.**

The word "clones" appeared on the next slide. A picture of a yellow face with a mouth open wide in glee was beneath it.

"What?" Olga asked in a highly skeptical manner.

"You were shot in the head. I was there when it happened." Raiden said. "I'm pretty sure you're a clone."

"Don't worry, you're not ordinary clones." Big Boss assured her.

"Are they clones linked by cursed genes?" Raiden asked.

"You smart ass." Mantis muttered.

"Even if we were clones, it would be impossible for us to retain the exact memories of our original counterparts." Olga explained. "That's an idea that will only remain in science fiction."

"Science fiction, you say?" Big Boss asked.

The next slide appeared, which contained the word "Nanomachines!" in a gigantic font against a black background. The first N and last S were partially cut off because they were too big to fit on the slide properly.

"Have you been keeping up with science? With nanomachines you can do just about anything and if you can control DNA, you can control the world."

"Yes, but what about our memories?" Mantis asked.

"Your individual personalities were all encoded into your nanomachines."

"So memory is stored in DNA." Snake said.

"Wrong. The Patriots used their psychological profiles and individual reports from those they were around to build a foundation. Apparently it's easy to replicate what drives a person."

"Why would they go through all this trouble?" Mantis asked.

"To kill Snake." Ocelot replied.

All eyes were on the cranky old Russian.

"May I?" Ocelot asked.

Big Boss nodded.

"Where to begin? Ah, yes. Grafting Liquid's arm to my own was a bad idea to begin with. I had hoped to put it to some use, but I got in way over my head. It was always my intention to thwart the Patriots and return the organization to its glory days and I assumed that by taking in as much of Liquid as I could, I'd be able to confuse them and proceed undetected. This proved to be somewhat of a critical error. Only after I was able to get rid of the arm was I able to think clearly. It was difficult to return to the organization after that, but I managed to do so after I convinced them that I hadn't intentionally betrayed them. As a show of good faith, I was to lead a company of clones to Alaska and eliminate Snake. It may seem hard to believe, but soldiers of your caliber are quite hard to come by. You do the most ludicrous things in battle, yet you still live. That's quite a quality to have."

Ocelot paused for a moment.

"Somehow someone forgot to put a strong desire for revenge in your nanomachines. Not a big deal. I convinced them that I would eliminate Snake when the moment was right. They had to believe me. It's what they were programmed to do. Now that they know for certain that I'm in league with their enemy, I am no longer a part of their organization. Anyway, while I watched Snake, Big Boss was revived. The only part of him that's still human is his spinal cord and his brain. Everything else is synthetic. By the way, I'm thirsty."

One of Big Boss' maids immediately left the room to get him a drink. Ocelot grinned in approval.

"Boss, did you know about this?" Snake asked.

"Some of it, but I'm getting to that." Big Boss replied.

"So what about Raven and Wolf?" Mantis asked. "Are they not important?"

"If you really want, I can get them." Big Boss replied.

"No." Snake said immediately. "No, we're good."

"You just don't like Raven." Ocelot said.

"There's nothing wrong with that." Meryl said.

"Let's move on, shall we?" Big Boss urged.

A picture of Big Boss grinning appeared on the screen.

"As you all may be aware, I wasn't quite dead. Most of my body was destroyed, but it has been rebuilt. I believe that the technical term for what I am is cyborg. So long as I don't contract a fatal brain problem, I can continue to live indefinitely. This sounds like a plot to keep your friends around for a very long time, doesn't it? You wouldn't even need to put them in the same body. It's all about control and keeping the people in power alive longer than anyone else that way the Patriots don't have to stick their necks out as much and exert their influence over people they have never contacted before."

Big Boss went to the next slide. An old photo of twelve individuals graced the screen.

"Here is the root of all our problems. The Patriots, originally known as the Philosopher's. In the beginning, they were a good organization. Then everyone died and a power struggle began. It ended when Ocelot and several other individuals stole the throne right out from under hundreds of politicians who were worth about as much as a bag of tin. Then the guy in charge became a real ass and another power struggle began, which ended with me trying to take back the organization for myself, as I have previously explained. We all know how that went."

A picture of a dreary cemetery appeared on the screen. A ghost was floating above one of the graves.

"But that was years ago. Ocelot was the youngest member in the group so it should come to no surprise that he is still alive."

"Have you seen his cholesterol level?" Naomi asked, completely shocked. "He's a walking miracle."

The maid came back in with a vanilla milkshake and handed it to Ocelot.

"What I'm getting at is simply this. The Patriots are no longer human. They are a series of supercomputers that have been programmed to carry on the will of their former leader. All five AI's are kept together in an undisclosed location. GW is but one of them and it was severally damaged by the virus Emma made, but it has been partially restored. Ocelot has reason to believe that each supercomputer is regularly serviced by a group of technicians who live in the same underground complex. With nanomachines the way they are now, it's likely that those who do work for the Patriots are now under their complete control. Being a series of computers, it would be very easy to overtake them. That is, of course, if we can find them." Big Boss said.

"How are we going to do that?" Meryl asked.

"Not to worry." Ocelot assured her as he gulped his milkshake down. "There is a way."

"Save that for later." Big Boss requested.

Ocelot shrugged indifferently and finished his shake. A time line appeared on the screen in front of the spectators. Everything from the formation of the Patriots to the Big Shell Dilemma was outlined accurately.

"Take a moment to study this graph. Does it look right?"

Everyone nodded. The next slide had a point from the Big Shell Misadventure to now.

"Here is where the problem is." Big Boss said.

A red square intercepted the line shortly after the Big Shell.

"Something happened right here that dramatically changed the course of events. If this something had not happened, it would be another five years from that point until you all dealt with the Patriots. Snake's advanced aging would have been in full effect. FOXDIE would have mutated to the point where it could infect anyone. Meryl would have gone back to the army and joined a squad of delightful misfits like she always wanted to. She would have fallen for Johnny. Olga's child would have programmed a virus that would save the day, much like Emma did. Naomi would have gotten cancer and killed herself after shtuping with Otacon and revealing once and for all that water does not revive Vamp."

Otacon's eyes got real big and he looked over at Naomi, who blushed and turned away from him. Big Boss cleared his throat before continuing. It was amusing to see all their mouths open like a gallery of dead fish.

"Ocelot would have been faking being Liquid instead of having been Liquid to fake it. Or something. I would have been revived and killed at the end by FOXDIE because I was too stupid to immunize myself from it. I think it's safe to say that I would have deserved it for being so ignorant. None of those who should be dead would be alive now. The Patriots would have been completely dismantled, leaving a great big hole open for anyone who wanted to fill the void. What do you think would have happened after that?"

"You would have been revived again?" Meryl guessed.

"Exactly!" Big Boss exclaimed. "You see, it's all headed towards the same train wreck."

"How can you make these assumptions?" Naomi demanded.

"Mantis threw everything together and predicted it with a ten percent margin for error."

"At a point five significance level, null hypothesis rejected." Mantis added. "Don't forget how Shadow Moses wouldn't have been renovated to assist you in the plot of grabbing Snake."

"What could have possibly altered our universe in this manner? The answer may shock you."

The theater doors burst open and broke on their hinges as someone kicked them open. The influx of light blinded just about everyone momentarily as a new guest came storming in. He almost looked just like Big Boss, but both of his eyes were intact and he kept his hair a different way. Even so, there was no mistaking the identity of Big Boss' younger twin.

"Solidus." Big Boss said with a degree of surprise. "I'm so glad you could make it."

Snake buried his head in his hands and sighed a great huge wracking sigh of complete abandonment of everything he thought he knew. Solidus was no longer dressed in his unfashionable octopus suit. Instead he wore a regular set of clothing for this splendid occasion. Each guard had their weapons aimed right at Solidus in case he tried anything funny. Even if he did, the guards were much lower on the character class ladder so Solidus would likely survive the mishaps that were bound to occur if they actually decided to attack. The maids were already hard at work on repairing the door, which didn't take too much damage and would be an easy fix even though Big Boss would undoubtedly replace it. The air in the room had been tense to begin with. Solidus' addition made it hard for some of them to breathe.

"You're not mad, are you?" Big Boss asked finally.

"If I was, would you even care?" Solidus countered.

"No." Big Boss said. "You may have the floor, though. Tell them your side of the story. We're just getting in to what changed everything."

Solidus stood there, completely shocked that Big Boss had pushed him aside so effortlessly.

"Do you have any idea what I've been through over the past three months?" Solidus demanded. "Any idea at all?"

"Just tell your story." Big Boss said. "After all, is it not because of you that everything has come to be the way it is now?"

"Don't try to flatter me." Solidus warned. "I'm just a minor inconsequential detail."

Big Boss wasn't listening. Flustered, Solidus turned and faced everyone.

"No, I didn't actually die. Surprise! If you want to make sure someone is dead these days you have to burn them into ashes and even then somebody out there might have a drop of blood from them and suddenly it doesn't matter if you killed them because now there's five of those people you thought you got rid of. Anyway, after crawling away from the scene of the crime I went after Ocelot. Finding him wasn't easy, but I eventually confronted him in the Middle East where he was busy consolidating several PMC's he'd purchased with funds he'd gained through highly illicit means."

Big Boss was making faces at Solidus as he spoke. Solidus could clearly discern that this was going on by all of the bottom lips being kept in check, but he wouldn't allow himself to say anything about it.

"When I encountered Ocelot, he was still Liquid. I relieved him of the tainted limb and was about to kill him when I discovered we could actually work together on something."

"Excuse me? I was the one who was about ready to kill you!" Ocelot shouted.

"You didn't have an arm at the time, you were dying quicker." Solidus countered.

"Maybe you should just live without an arm." Meryl said in the heat of the debate. "You seem to lose it all the time."

"The C-4 would have killed both of us, Solidus. What then?" Ocelot asked.

"Then this son of a bitch would still be in a freezer right next to the ice cream bars." Solidus said in reference to Big Boss. "I doubt that grungy doofus over there and his little dweeb friend could find the Patriots on their own, let alone have the resources available to do something about it if they did. Snake would probably still be trying to find a decent Chinese restaurant if he's anything like me until FOXDIE came around and bit him in the ass."

"So what happened after Ocelot was about ready to kill you?" Big Boss asked.

The comment went clear over Solidus' head, probably due to his growing exasperation.

"We had to thaw you out. It wasn't easy. Big Boss was supposed to be a drone when they revived him, but we managed to sabotage that. I became his double afterward and did all the work while Ocelot played with himself."

"That is all one big lie." Ocelot said. "I did not take a backseat to this."

"I wonder who's telling the truth." Meryl mused aloud.

"It's hard to say. I don't know many of the finer details and I can't get a straight story out of either of them. It's Ocelot's word against Solidus. You'll have to choose who you want to believe." Big Boss explained.

"Screw that. Who cares?" Snake said.

"Yeah, really. It's better to watch both of them shit their pants over trying to make us take sides than to actually bother with who is telling the truth." Raiden mused.

"Jack's got a point." Olga agreed.

"Yaoi!" Chill Penguin piped in.

"Yuri." Mantis added.

"Eww!" Chill Penguin said.

"In the end, Big Boss was resurrected." Solidus said.

"No thanks to you. I did most of the work." Ocelot muttered.

"Shut up! Ocelot was busy making sure Snake and Otacon didn't find any new leads until we were all ready, so it was my job to help Big Boss get everything together. In an effort to hopefully get Big Boss to shoot Ocelot on sight, I tried to convince him that Ocelot couldn't be trusted, but he wouldn't have any of that."

"That much is true." Ocelot said. "Thanks for nothing, you pirate hooker."

"So while all of us were busy dicking around in Alaska, you three were taking the necessary steps to take back the Patriots, right?" Meryl asked.

Big Boss threw her a piece of candy. Meryl didn't expect that as an answer and jumped about five feet before failing to catch the Kit-Kat bar, which landed in her lap.

"And I assume your intent is to fill their shoes." Snake said.

Snake received a big bar of Twix for his accurate assumption.

"All of you wait just one damn minute." Solidus commanded. "I need to talk with Big Boss. I'm sure you could all use a break."

"What's there to talk about? All you ever do is whine and complain. Seriously. You're like a big zero, buddy. Are you dead?" Big Boss asked.

"No."

"Well, I guess it all worked out, didn't it? I'm sorry your cover was blown and the people you trusted couldn't do their jobs. Maybe you should have been a bit more careful. I sent you help to get your butt out of that fire and I was so worried about you that I even got down on my knees and prayed that you'd live and this is how you repay me? By ruining my presentation?"

Something Big Boss had said got Solidus thinking about his unfortunate experience.

"How did my cover get blown in the first place?"

"You never really thought of that?" Big Boss asked.

Solidus looked directly at Ocelot, who grinned from ear to ear. The four guards holstered their rifles, took out tasers, and moved in to restrain Solidus before he could bolt for Ocelot.

"How could you?" Solidus demanded as three men and one woman kept him at bay. "With the behavior you're exhibiting, it's not even safe to trust you right now!"

Ocelot laughed in sadistic glee.

"None of you have a choice! Solidus, I knew you would make it out alive. If you didn't, well, that wouldn't have been such a bad thing, either. Think of it as a favor. You needed the exercise."

With a frustrated scream, Solidus attacked the guard next to him. He didn't stand a chance. Solidus was pretty spry for an old guy. He took his rifle and aimed it at Ocelot. The audience exploded in an angry uproar. Solidus fired once, barely missing Ocelot, who ducked down in the aisle just in time. He fired again, breaking the expensive glass cup the maid had brought to him.

Solidus marched down the row to get a better shot at Ocelot. Anna decided that maybe it was worth their time to save Ocelot and tackled Solidus, who fired a wild round that didn't hit anyone and only served to further agitate everyone in the room. Snake noticed Big Boss was jamming earplugs into his ears and putting on a heavy pair of sunglasses. That could only mean one thing. Snake covered his ears and put his head in his lap. Big Boss whistled shrilly and two guards suddenly appeared in the room armed with Milkor MGL's. They fired three flash bangs into the room in such a way that just as the effects of the first wore off another one disoriented the guests, keeping them trapped in a raging blizzard of confusion. There were plenty of curse words and shouts of frustration all drowned out by the constant hail of debilitating grenades.

Snake was no fool and kept still the entire time, waiting patiently for the dust to settle. When it did everyone had switched seats. Snake was sitting all by himself. Mantis, who was now seated next to Chill Penguin in the corner, beckoned him to come over. Chill Penguin was gesturing for him to join them in the manner a giddy Japanese high school girl would by waving down at the ground. To spare him of her insanity, Snake decided to go sit by Mantis again. Solidus had been forced to his knees and was currently handcuffed around the leg of a seat up in front. They had even gagged him by slapping a piece of duct tape over his mouth.

Big Boss had his arms crossed over his chest and did not appear pleased. He still wore the sunglasses.

"You're like a bunch of first graders with ADHD during art hour." Big Boss said. "How did you ever manage to get along?"

"We had some good times." Otacon offered.

"So I've been told." Big Boss said.

"I still have a hangover from Raven's birthday blowout." Campbell said.

"I think the rest is clear. You want to knock out the current Patriots and seize the throne for yourself." Snake interjected.

Big Boss turned his back to them and faced the screen. He zipped passed a series of slides. Snake had obviously gotten ahead of the presentation and saved them about twenty additional minutes of lecture. Mantis gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder.

"You were going to get rid of them anyway." Big Boss said somewhat out of focus as he concentrated on finding his place. "Had you have without trying to fill that hole, I guarantee somebody would have filled it for you. Sure, you could try to erase all traces of the organization, but then you'd just be leaving the world open to manipulation by other people with a lot of money. Simply put, it is actually better that they stay in place under our control."

They passed a slide which signaled an intermission. Big Boss seemed to have lost his place completely and the frustration was evident on his face.

"Are all of us going to play a part in this operation?" Mei Ling asked.

"If you're here, I have use of you. Be proud."

Big Boss tossed the remote at Johnny, effectively giving up on the presentation he had spent so much time creating. Johnny ended the show for him.

"Let's see, what else did I have to say." Big Boss wondered aloud. "Ultimately, I believe that the Patriots are seeking total control of the populace. That doesn't come cheap. Where do they get the money? Through war, embezzlement, capitalism, and the labor of wage slaves. Mostly war these days, though. As a manager of several fine PMC's, I've actually received generous offers from them directly. Of course, they don't know it's really me. If they did, I'd be smoked. Those AI's are extremely smart, but even they can be fooled. They're all programmed to think like the retired leader and so far they have been doing a very good job of that, but from what I understand there has recently been a few deviations from his original goal."

The crowd shifted irritably. Without the moderately interesting slide show to stare at blankly while pretending to listen to Big Boss, his speech was going to get a little boring. Snake was sure he could carry on for about another hour or so. He had a lot to say, but Snake wasn't entirely interested with what he already knew. In fact, he would much rather prefer to read the report himself. And what were they actually going to do? At this point, that was far more important than anything else.

"Give us a break. We already know this, John." Ocelot said, speaking on behalf of everyone. "The only new thing you've told these fine people is that most of them are clones and Solidus didn't die. Just let them read the report, if they even will. You made plenty of copies right?"

"Ten."

"Good. Snake will probably read each of them just to be sure he doesn't miss anything."

"Will you all read my report?" Big Boss asked hopefully.

Everyone nodded enthusiastically. Big Boss narrowed his eyes. He knew they were all lying.

"What if there's a quiz and whoever fails it gets shot?" Big Boss asked.

"I call your bluff." Naomi ventured.

"Fine. Let's just skip to the questions." Big Boss said.

"What now?" Raiden asked.

"It won't do us any good to get ahead of ourselves. It will probably take a few more days to get everything prepared. For one thing, Snake is going to need some more FOXDIE suppressors. There's a lab in the basement next to the command center specifically made for Naomi and I hope she makes good use of it."

Big Boss turned to Anna.

"You are going to go through therapy with that shrink over there so he can ween you off of that trap you've put yourself in."

He then turned to face the audience.

"This humble mansion will be our command center. The basement has everything we need to run a private operation thanks to Solidus and Ocelot. Their combined worth can easily be compensated by their technical expertise."

"Boring." Snake said. "What's our first move?"

Big Boss smiled. Nobody in the room could say they liked that crafty grin.

"Saving Olga's child." Big Boss announced.

**NEXT TIME : **Nobody can agree on how they should kidnap Sunny. Her guardian makes them rethink their strategies. Dysfunction runs amuck as a challenger appears that nobody is ready for.


	3. loli

**Chapter 3 : !loli**

A heavy silence fell across the room. One of the guards farted audibly, but nobody seemed to mind, least of all the guard himself.

"You have my full attention." Olga said.

Big Boss was about to speak, but Ocelot stood up sharply and held up a hand to stop him.

"Just a minute before you go on for an hour." Ocelot requested. "I have a question and it's an actual question. It isn't something Snake would ask."

"Yeah?" Big Boss prompted.

"I have been patient throughout the whole day and I want my answer now before you reveal your first step. As you may be aware, my hand was cut off again by Gray Fox a few months ago, which lead to a very dysfunctional reunion with everyone's favorite clone of you. I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

Big Boss shook his head. Solidus began to laugh through the tape across his mouth. It was a horrible, muffled noise that was befitting of a Silent Hill critter. A soldier looked to Big Boss for approval, which was given by a slight nod. The soldier tore the gag off of his mouth and Solidus burst out laughing so hard that his face turned red and tears began streaming down his eyes.

"That was me!" Solidus finally managed to say. "I convinced him that it had to be done. I can't remember how at the moment, but I didn't think he would actually go and do it for me. If only I could have seen the look on your face. Jokes on you, sucker!"

Ocelot sprang from his seat. Snake followed him. If he wasn't restrained, Ocelot was going to kill Solidus, who was still laughing himself out of breath.

"And then you went and spent a week or so in that terrible hospital." Solidus continued. "I made sure they treated you like you were nothing."

Snake grabbed Ocelot and they had a small scuffle, but Snake managed to keep Ocelot pinned. Snake squeezed Ocelot's anger out of him through pain. He was quite strong for being so old and having a couple of notable health problems. Snake forced Ocelot to his feet and escorted him back to his seat.

"I'd say you're even." Anna said. "You betrayed him and he betrayed you."

"I hate that man." Ocelot said in a tone that easily induced goosebumps.

"Hey, how about we find out why my kid is so important?" Olga asked.

"Yeah. No offense, but what does finding her kid have to do with anything?" Meryl asked.

Big Boss laughed a little at that.

"Do you know why I attacked Outpost One?" Big Boss asked rhetorically.

"Are you sure you want to tell us?" Raiden asked.

Big Boss motioned for Johnny to bring him something. Johnny gave Big Boss a large red hard drive that he held up before the group.

"This is the sixth AI. It's meant to replace GW."

Snake had a feeling Big Boss was holding something more dangerous than a nuclear warhead in his hands.

"Why?" Snake asked.

"Yes. Why? It's a popular question. The answer is simple. Emma's virus really screwed up GW, so a new one was ordered."

"Is there an AI already on that drive?" Otacon asked.

"Taste the rainbow." Big Boss said as he threw a packet of sour Skittles at Otacon to reward his clever deduction.

"Wouldn't it be a bad idea to plug that thing in, then?" Anna asked. "I mean, if it's a Patriot, I'd say it's not on our side."

"Not to worry. It hasn't been corrupted yet. This AI might prove to be our greatest asset. Problem is, the drive is encrypted."

"What program did they use?" Otacon asked eagerly.

"TrueCrypt! The cheap bastards."

"Look who's talking, Open Office." Anna said.

"What does this have to do with Olga's child, you might ask? I can see it in your eyes, Snake. Go ahead, Snake. Ask."

"Yes. What does this have to do with Olga's child?" Snake asked.

"Aside from being unfinished business, she is an absolute genius with computers. On her record it states that she once reprogrammed Number Munchers to reflect her current level in math. When the other children began crying because they couldn't beat the first level, she was reprimanded and forced to reset the difficulty. Her aptitude is literally beyond comprehension. They made sure of that. Put her in front of a bunch of code and she'll turn it into an operating system. Or worse! She just might have inadvertently helped program the sixth AI."

"Hey, what about Otacon and Mei Ling?" Campbell asked.

"This little girl could run circles around those two. It should go without saying that she got these nifty abilities after they shackled her with them shortly after she was born, but it could have been worse. She might have been destined to become a Guardian of the Patriots."

"A Guardian?" Snake prompted.

"Nifty abilities?" Raiden mocked.

"Shackled?" Meryl mocked.

"Born?" Mantis mocked.

"Yes, Snake. A guardian. One who watches over another. The Patriots have guardians. They are soldiers on par with all of you. You know the type. Crazy abilities, a lot of luck, beautiful bodies. You've fought people like that before. Unfortunately, we don't know how many of them there are or what they do. I'm sure we'll run into them at some point. Getting back to Olga's daughter, I will send a team comprised of our finest members to retrieve her. Snake, Meryl, Raiden, Olga, Mantis, and Anna will make up that team. Anna will be treated by Mantis before she is thrown into the field."

"Yaoi?" Chill Penguin whimpered. "What about us?"

"No worries, you're on backup." Big Boss said to them. "If needed, you will assist Nighthawk, which is my premier PMC. Everyone will become familiar with them very soon. Campbell, Otacon, Solidus, Ocelot and Mei Ling will assist us on the security team. Naomi will be herself."

"How did you find this girl in the first place?" Snake asked.

Big Boss pointed at Ocelot.

"The Patriots already have plenty of people like her. I convinced them to let her go. At first they wanted to eliminate her, but I talked them out of it. Ever since then, she's been a little ace in the hole. They set her up with a fake family in Maine. I've got their information. Retrieving the girl should be easy."

"Yet you don't know where the Patriots are." Meryl said.

"As the only living member of the Patriots who isn't brainwashed by nanomachines, it was not in their best interests to ever tell me where they were hidden should I ever turn against them. By the way, I have a question for Naomi." Ocelot said.

Naomi perked her head up.

"Do you remember that blood sample you took from me? Do I really have FOXDIE, or is it just my heart?"

"It's just your heart." Naomi said. "You should stop eating crap. Do you like sweets? Eat some fruit. It's good for you."

"Maids!" Ocelot shouted. "I require cherry cheesecake. Extra sugar."

Three of them left to prepare this request. Naomi shook her head in disapproval.

"Does my kid have to stay here when we get her?" Olga asked.

**Yes, she does.**

Preparations for the journey were made over the course of a week. During that stretch of seven days, everyone managed to relax. Snake worried that Big Boss' maids knew too much, but Big Boss was absolutely certain that none of them were capable of betraying him. They knew what fate awaited them if they crossed the line. The League of Five were not allowed to have an opinion about their assignment and would remain faithful so long as they were paid. Ten maids, twenty guards, and fourteen guests easily filled up the whole manor. The maids had their own private bungalow tucked away from the house that they maintained. Rooms were shared and sleeping bags were common. Johnny had his hands full seeing that everything was in order. He still had not moved up from being Big Boss' personal secretary despite what he had done for them.

Anna received her therapy session with Mantis that ended in a solution that did not compromise her ability to rage. No longer would she need to rely on hypnotherapy to access it. Furthermore, she could control it. Snake had watched the process out of interest. The complexity of the dive resulted in a forty five minute excursion that was completely uneventful to those who were unable to see inside Anna's head. Once this was completed, Edgar promptly left her side and flew away, citing that he was done with this shit. They were unable to find him anywhere on the island. A training session was conducted with the League of Five eagerly laying their lives on the line to see if she was cured and as deadly as she had been before being relieved of her vice. Regardless of her unorthodox methods, which were no better to Big Boss than a man who had an obsession with bees, Anna somehow managed to pass the test with flying colors.

Otacon lead the security team and laid out tasks appropriately. The supercomputer Big Boss owned that Solidus and Ocelot had built was extremely impressive. Though it was wired to confidential databases around the world thanks to their careful work over the years, it still was not as powerful as the AI's that were the Patriots. That would change once they broke the encryption on the real AI and plugged it in to the protective supercomputer chasis like an NES cartridge.

Mei Ling and Otacon labored over this intensively with no luck. They wondered how the child would be able to help. Big Boss seemed pretty confident, but it felt like he was just putting on a happy face to keep morale stable. A set of military smart phones were passed out to the team. CODEC software was included. It would serve as their primary means of communication for the mission they were to embark on. Big Boss did not feel that they needed to go in armed to the teeth. This was just a routine kidnapping. They were given a bag full of handguns. The recovery operation would only last three days max if there were no complications. Should something go wrong, Nighthawk was prepared to come to their rescue.

It was to Maine they went on the day the mission officially commenced. Each member received an injection of Big Boss' personal brand of nanomachines courtesy of Naomi. They were tied to Big Boss' network and infused with a mixture of vitamins and minerals that made them feel ready to take on anything. No control would be exhibited over their actions. They were free to operate as they pleased. They arrived at the same private airfield they would use to leave if the mission went well. Some goons from Nighthawk were there to make sure everything was as it should be. Unmarked and unregistered military vehicles littered the airfield. With PMC's replacing the conventional military, sites such as this were not quite as shocking. If discovered, their owner would be relentlessly pursued. Unauthorized PMC activity was considered a crime against humanity. Nobody seemed to be worrying.

A Chevrolet Bel Air and a Sunbeam Lotus were waiting for them. This was as far as Big Boss' planning had gone. He had even neglected to get them a hotel room. That was the first obstacle they tackled. The Hampton Inn was booked and no amount of hacking would erase that fact. Every other desirable sleeping lodge had no vacancies, so they would be forced to spend the night in a creepy spot just off of the interstate if they needed to. It seemed likely that they would.

The data available to them was sparse. What they did know was that the Patriots had elected to name the child Sunny, which irritated Olga to no conceivable end. Olga believed she needed a good, strong Russian name. Sunny was enrolled in karate, where she was slowly making her way to the top of her class. She suffered from very violent nightmares about being stuck in a scientific laboratory with emotionless doctors and nurses running a variety of experiments on her. Sunny's legal guardian had elected to withhold medication from her for the time being, believing that she would grow out of it. These terrible visions were the only thing Sunny remembered from her time being engineered to be an expert with computers.

Her grades were exceptional and her behavior was commendable, although Sunny was quite shy and would keep to herself when she could. Whenever she became nervous, a mild speech impediment attacked her. The file they managed to pull on Sunny through the school's database was more exhaustive than any other record. What they could not find was any information on her legal guardian. Sunny's mother was listed as deceased, which was hideously ironic. A man named Jacob cared for her and she was definitely not her real father. Their address was on Sunny's record and nowhere else. The security team couldn't even locate anything in the database of the IRS. More mysteriously, they had been able to retrieve Sunny's information rather easily, a fact that worried Otacon to the point where he was carefully analyzing the entire transaction line by line for a breach.

Concerned, the team decided to catch an image of Sunny's guardian and see if he was anything to worry about. At three o' clock in the afternoon, they made their way to the school. Snake was driving the Bel Air with Olga, Anna, and Meryl to keep him company. Raiden and Mantis chilled in the Lotus and parked across the street, awaiting further orders. Snake was uncomfortable in the vehicle he had been given since it was so noticeable. He couldn't help but wonder if Big Boss had intentionally tied a handicap around their necks. Meryl sat in the passengers seat and readied her smart phone to take a picture of the man they were stalking.

The kids poured out the moment they parked. Parents were everywhere, but Meryl had sharp eyes. Sunny came out of the building eight minutes later all by herself, looking positively adorable and more than a little concerned that her father had not arrived yet to pick her up. She scanned the cars for him. Olga was in tears, but kept herself from sobbing. A girl wearing a blue dress with short black hair came running from the entrance and intentionally bumped into Sunny, knocking her over. She didn't even bother to stop. Olga tensed, but Anna kept her in check. Sunny got back on her feet and rubbed absently at her palms for a moment.

Suddenly the girl who had tripped Sunny was swept off her feet by an unusually strong gust of wind, which was funny since it wasn't even that windy out. She landed on her rear with a highly audible thud that made Snake flinch. Her mother rushed over to her and helped her up as she bawled her eyes out.

"You're welcome, Olga." Mantis said over the CODEC.

They turned to see Mantis and Raiden from their vehicle across the way, who were laughing and giving each other a high five. A horn honked. Sunny's head lifted in hopeful recognition. She smiled slightly at the sight of her father and began walking towards the vehicle he drove. They were unable to see him from their position. Snake got the car moving and Meryl prepared to take the picture. When Meryl had a clear shot, she gasped in horror and fumbled with the camera for a moment before capturing the identity of Jacob. Snake took his eyes off the road for a moment and caught a full glimpse of who Jacob was and felt the horrible ache of heartburn begin to assault his stomach.

"Snake, watch the road!" Anna demanded.

He slammed on the brakes just in time to avoid colliding with a minivan full of five kids that belonged to a woman who was currently hanging off of her cell phone as her children fought with each other. She drove off without even realizing that she had almost been hit. Snake pulled out of the parking lot and Raiden followed.

"Should I send this back to Big Boss?" Meryl asked Snake.

"Not yet. Let's get back to the hotel first." Snake replied. "That's where we're going to wind up, anyway. This is not a conversation I want to have while I'm driving."

The trip to the hotel would take ten minutes. Meryl and Snake simmered the entire time, glowering in their obvious disgust. Olga was no better, although the source of her irritation was to be found in other aspects of the situation. Mantis and Raiden seemed to be having a gay old time in their car, blissfully indifferent. Anna suddenly found herself wishing that she had gone with them instead of Snake, who she found interesting but knew better than to approach with that fiery red head willing to see him through anything at his side.

Snake slammed his fist into the steering wheel. First Solidus and now this. It was the least of their problems. They had been unable to reach an agreement on how they should retrieve Sunny. Olga was adamant that they kidnap Sunny as gently as possible. They couldn't just burst in and take her as that might damage her psychologically. Even with Mantis there, Olga didn't want this to be something traumatic. They had been arguing back and forth about how to do it for a while. Since Olga was her mother, Big Boss gave her opinion top priority, but this was probably because he liked watching his soldiers squirm. Snake was hoping he'd swoop in and pick her up himself before Olga delayed their stay in Maine for one whole week.

When they finally arrived at the hotel, christened Quiet Hill, Snake retrieved their key from the front desk and opened the door to one of the rooms they had been leased. It was a real dump. The television couldn't get cable or color. A VCR with a VHS of _Pretty Woman_ was their only hope for entertainment. The beds had stiff sheets that were as luminescent as the rest of the room under the right light. Roach motels that hadn't been switched out in a while were in a couple of corners. The shower head was stuffed with calcium deposits. Raiden had a sneaking suspicion that the place was haunted. Small and out of sight, Gokicha-chan nibbled contently on an old cracker in the corner, as brown as the fuzzy carpet around her.

Meryl threw a carrier bag that contained their weapons on one of the beds and unzipped it. An assortment of M1911's gleamed up at them, polished and customized to absolute perfection by Big Boss himself. Raiden threw a large book bag stuffed with candy on another bed. Originally Raiden had proposed to kidnap Sunny the classic way by luring her into the backseat of their car with the promise of candy. The twist would be that there actually was candy. A lot of it. Candy and an Easy Bake Oven, in fact. Raiden loved kids. Meryl grabbed a handful of Twix candy bars. The others in the group took some candy as well. Nobody touched the Tootsie Rolls.

"Save some for Sunny!" Raiden admonished.

They muttered in reply and nodded sheepishly. Snake pulled a chair away from a small desk and sat down in it. The chair crumbled under his weight. Raiden helped him get back on his feet. Meryl sat on the edge of a bed, not brave enough to actually lay down on it for fear of getting some type of disease, and knocked down the legs that supported it. The bed slumped to one side and she sighed. Meryl sent the picture to Snake, who forwarded it to Big Boss.

"It's about damn time!" Big Boss exclaimed. "I had everyone take a break while we waited on you to send us those. . ."

Big Boss trailed off when he actually caught a glimpse of who Jacob was. Snake took the time to bask in the silence that followed.

"You've got to be fucking kidding!" Solidus said.

"Solidus, watch your language!" Big Boss admonished. "Honestly!"

"I thought you were in control of your DNA, Boss." Snake said.

"Say that again, only this time say it like a woman telling her boyfriend that she's pregnant." Big Boss instructed.

Jacob was another clone of Big Boss. He wore his hair the same way Snake had during the Shadow Moses incident. Jacob looked a little younger than Snake, but it was clear that they were identical twins. How badly this would complicate matters remained to be seen. They didn't know anything about him other than who he was. Snake was suddenly very glad that they had Mantis with them. When Big Boss determined that Snake wasn't going to fulfill his request, he continued.

"I guess more vials of my blood must be circulating around out there, which is precisely why we need to win this mission so we can stop this vicious cycle. Trust me, I'm just as surprised as you. Don't forget who we're dealing with here."

"Can't they think of something original?" Mantis asked.

"Despite their level of exceptional intelligence, they are merely a computer program in the end." Ocelot said. "It's easy to see why they keep doing the same thing over and over again."

"Why must it be him?" Olga asked with a hint of distaste.

"He seems to be a good father." Anna observed with a sneaky grin.

"Agreed. Who else would you want to raise your children?" Meryl asked.

"It is a little girl. If it was a boy, I would concede." Olga said.

"Olga, they're obviously going to train her to fight stuff when she gets older." Big Boss said. "Duh! Who better to be her mentor than me?"

"Hey. Your kid is alive and healthy." Meryl said to put things into perspective.

"You're right. I guess it's more important to think about how we are going to rescue her." Olga affirmed.

"Have _you _thought about how yet?" Raiden demanded.

Olga shook her head. Everyone threw their hands in the air in exasperation.

"I thought my idea was pretty good. To think I spent all that money on candy."

"Look, Olga. I understand why you're concerned, but you need to think of something fast. That's an order. If you can't think of how you want to do this within the next three hours, I'm taking control of this operation. Okay?" Big Boss said.

"Fine, I will think of something." Olga said without a shred of confidence in her voice.

"What was your plan again, Raiden?" Big Boss asked.

"Well, it won't work now!" Raiden exclaimed. "Jacob took her home. If we want to get Sunny now, we will have to do a full frontal assault."

"Good, we'll go with that if Olga can't do better. Make it happen, kids. Boss out."

Olga sighed.

"We'll surround the house." she began. "I will knock on the door and try to explain the situation to the other Snake. If he is unwilling, we will have Mantis fix that. We will then take Sunny as gently as possible."

"With the promise of an Easy Bake Oven!" Raiden added. "I am not taking that thing back. I'd look like a complete idiot."

"Yes, the toy helps." Meryl said. "But if I recall correctly, that's exactly what I said we should do in the first place."

"I know, I don't want this to be ugly." Olga said. "I'm afraid that she won't think of me as her mother if we do this wrong."

"See, that's why I'm here. I could get that kid thinking she's a moon pirate." Mantis boasted.

"But that is unnatural!" Olga said. "I want this to be real. It would not feel right otherwise."

"If I were a little girl I'd wanna be a moon pirate." Raiden said.

Olga glared at him. Raiden fetched a package of sour Skittles and began eating them vigorously. He wasn't that hungry for sweets, but he had to eat some of what he'd bought to justify the purchase.

"It's been quite a day." Anna announced. "So are we going to order pizza before we do this? I'm famished."

"We might as well order some food." Snake said. "Sweets just rot in your belly if you're hungry for meat."

Raiden snorted.

_Moo._

Everyone looked at one another. That hadn't come from Mantis and there certainly weren't any cows in the neighborhood.

"Snake, did you fart?" Raiden asked.

"He who smelt. . ." Snake began.

A foot came crashing through the front door, knocking down most of the wall with it. The foot belonged to a Gekko, which crouched low and shoved itself inside of the room. Raiden reacted immediately by running into the paper thin wall behind him and bursting into the room adjacent to them, which was not currently occupied. Snake grabbed the bag of weapons and hurried after everyone else. He ran through the hole Meryl made. Nobody was stupid enough to crowd Raiden's silhouette and by the time the machine started shooting they had already turned the wall into Swiss cheese.

Snake began handing out M1911's to everyone as he ran passed them, trying to catch up to Raiden. He really wished he had some chaff grenades on him at the moment. Recently they had become quite expensive and even more difficult to acquire. Armed and slightly dangerous, the crew continued running through the walls of the building until they came to the end of it, disturbing patrons sleeping with prostitutes or trying to commit suicide as they went.

The Gekko was having a lot of trouble targeting them given its height and Snake watched in pure disbelief as it stood on its hind legs to try and get a better shot at them. It burst through the ceiling and observed the roof. In that moment, Snake realized that it was a stupid creature, only lethal due to what it had been equipped with. Discontent, the Gekko decided to charge them, but by then its preemptive strike was over.

Raiden, still in the lead, kicked down the front door at the end of the string of rooms and ran for cover outside in the parking lot with trained efficiency while the Gekko was still trying to compensate for its own stupidity.

"Boss!" Snake shouted after he made sure the channel was open.

There wasn't an immediate response.

"What in the name of God could he possibly be doing?" Meryl demanded as she took cover behind a dumpster.

The Gekko cried out in anger with an elongated moo and burst free of the building, observing its targets, who had spread themselves out. It didn't know who to fight first.

"What is it?" Campbell asked. "Do you need to save? Hold on, let me get Mei Ling."

"Colonel, we're being attacked by a Gekko!" everyone said over the channel at once with several different variations.

"That sucks." Ocelot replied.

"Care to help?" Anna asked.

"Of course. Just a moment while I pull up the file." Ocelot said.

"Scroll to the 'do not have missiles but still need to dispose of' section!" Raiden requested.

The Gekko centered its sights on Meryl. Snake felt his pocket for the impact resistant case he'd been given full of the needles needed to suppress FOXDIE and began shooting at the Gekko from behind. A dome at the top of its head swiveled on an axis and spotted him. That must have been how it was capable of sight.

"Where's Big Boss?" Meryl demanded.

"He had to go to the bathroom." Ocelot said. "You will need to shoot its legs."

"As if that will do any good!" Raiden yelled.

"That's all I've got. Once you knock it down, you can take out the optic sensor, which is the thing that looks like a soccer ball. It should shut down after that." Ocelot explained.

The Gekko began heading towards Snake as he crouched behind a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro. Mantis suddenly appeared beside him.

"Get behind me!" Mantis ordered.

Snake inched backward on his butt as Mantis used his powers to launch the vehicle at the machine.

"I hope that's not your only trick!" Snake roared.

"Do you know how stupid you guys sound when you pull out those old quotes?" Mantis demanded.

The Gekko batted it right back at him. Mantis deflected it just in time. The Gekko began firing at Mantis. Each bullet missed him and went skidding around the side of his body. Since Snake was right behind him, bullets started striking all around him. Snake grunted and curled up so his body was perfectly aligned with Mantis'. He longed for a set of protective equipment, but they were all dressed in civilian clothing as this sort of thing was not in the original plan. Mantis lobbed a Prince Skyline ALSI-1 at the Gekko. He was beginning to look a little tired. Everybody had a limit. Mantis couldn't just use that kind of power without getting worn out by it in some way or another.

This time the Gekko caught the car in midair with its feet and smashed it in the ground. Mantis quickly took cover before it began firing at him again. An idea suddenly occurred to Snake.

"Mantis! Can you pick up the Gekko?" Snake demanded.

"Christ, what you ask!" Mantis shot back. "Not right now!"

"Okay, just checking!"

"You're fired, Snake!"

The bravado Mantis had displayed despite his rail thin frame got Meryl's blood boiling, which wasn't that hard given her temper. She just needed an excuse. Meryl smashed the window of a 1957 3100 Stepside and got inside. She easily hot wired the vehicle and slammed her foot down on the accelerator so hard that she popped her ankle. The ancient truck made of metal roared to life and began heading right for the Gekko's gangly stripper legs. She gritted her teeth together fiercely as she readied for impact. Meryl hit the offensive limbs dead on and knocked the monstrosity off of its feet. It crashed behind Meryl and she suddenly found herself heading right for Mantis, who flew into the air above her right before she struck him. Meryl quickly adjusted the rear view mirror in a panic to see if she might have hit him and plowed through the hotel and out the other side into oncoming traffic. Cars made of cheap plastic knew what was in store for them if they plowed into the steel beast. They tucked their tin tail pipes up their trunks and managed to avoid hitting the lethargic titan.

Meryl roughly put the car into reverse and prepared to do the same thing if needed. The Gekko laid on its side and made a mechanical cry of pain. This wasn't a stupid moo. If it could feel pain, Snake sincerely hoped that it was in great agony. He made a break for the front desk at the same time Raiden made a move for their Bel Air. Olga was also springing into action at the chance to take the thing down, as was Anna, who followed Raiden. Snake burst through the door and saw the part time high schooler gaping in fear at what was happening in front of her.

"Where's the shotgun?" Snake demanded.

She snapped into action and gave him a Remington 870 and a box of shells. Snake grabbed it and immediately checked the shell capacity. This could hold eight rounds. He loaded it and stuffed the box of shells in his pants pocket and ran out into the parking lot where the battle was taking place. The Gekko seemed incapable of using its weapons while incapacitated. Snake stood a safe distance away from the Gekko as it squirmed around on the ground and began unloading the shells on its legs. Olga appeared at his side with another shotgun she had found in the back of a truck that must have belonged to some hunters and followed his lead. Chunks of some synthetic material came flying off the machine, leaving gaping wounds behind. The shotguns weren't doing as much damage as they had hoped, but it was better than nothing.

Meryl positioned herself for another charge and waited for the machine to stand back up. Raiden and Anna popped the trunk of the Bel Air and fetched their precious Japanese weapons that had been manufactured in such a way that they would still prove quite useful if handled correctly. Anna charged ahead of Raiden, suddenly faster then him as she broke into her rage. The Gekko managed to stand back up on its feet. Snake and Olga scrambled to find cover while Meryl revved up the truck menacingly. Before it could regain all of its balance and start attacking again, Raiden struck one of its feet with his sword hoping that the blade wouldn't shatter. This particular katana was supposed to be resistant to that due to its special diamond coating, whatever that meant.

Raiden successfully cut off one of its feet. He overcompensated and stumbled a bit in surprise, twisting his wrists uncomfortably as he tried to hold on to the sword like a useless amateur. He was amazed that the katana had worked and quickly regained his stance. The Gekko fell forward on the stump and cried out again. Anna leapt on the head of the machine. It responded immediately by trying to shake her off. She held on and acted quickly. Using her claws, Anna cut through the top and discovered the compartment through which the Gekko was fed ammunition. She disengaged one turret before being thrown off the machine in such a way that her other claw broke the second turret as she tried to hold on, which almost made the Gekko completely defenseless.

Meryl went straight for it, but the Gekko had managed to learn from its past mistake and jumped over the car. It landed fairly confidently on its one foot, but Anna spotted a hint of weakness in her rage and leapt on top of the thing once again. She shoved both claws down into the groove the optical ball glided in and tore the thing out of its socket. Anna fell off the Gekko with the optical sensor in her hands as the Gekko bucked upward in a death throe. A wire that had been attached to the sensor came lose with a sick snap.

Anna landed very badly on her back. The weight of the optical sensor didn't help any as it slammed into her stomach. She cried out in pain and curled up into a fetal position. The Gekko crumbled in on itself and stopped functioning. They were all to exhausted to cheer. Red blood with the same consistency as oil poured out of the multiple wounds the Gekko had received. Snake ran over to Anna while the others approached the machine cautiously to ensure that it was actually dead. For a moment, a hint of that savage glee flickered in her eyes. Then, upon seeing Snake standing above her, it disappeared. Her body relaxed and she groaned in pain. She rolled the ball off of her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Snake asked.

"No." Anna replied. "I think I might have broken a disc. Can you help me stand up?"

Her jaw was locked tight as it stifled the scream of pain that wanted to come out as Snake got her back on her feet.

"I am in a type of pain I'm not familiar with." Anna muttered, sweat beading across her forehead.

"We'll get you taken care of." Snake assured her.

Raiden tried to poke at the hull to get a rise out of the Gekko, but his sword went right through. No doubt about it, this one was a lot better than the other he had once fought with. He made a mental note to be extra careful with it.

"We are one hell of a team." Meryl said.

Meryl gave Snake a hearty high five. Olga and Raiden exchanged the same gesture. Mantis nodded politely at Anna, concerned that her back wouldn't allow her to exert herself enough to comfortably follow suite.

"Your heart didn't stop." Meryl said.

"I noticed." Snake said. "I'll be sure to count my blessings."

"Is it dead yet?" Ocelot asked. "By my calculations, it's about time that you killed it."

"We managed to take it down." Snake replied. "No thanks to you."

"You have probably alerted the entire state of Maine during that process. In Big Boss' stead, I have approved plan B. A distraction has been staged and the helicopters are on their way. Go to Sunny's house now and get her before something much worse happens. Get moving."

Meryl, Snake, Olga, and Raiden piled into the Bel Air. Mantis and Anna boarded the Sunbeam Lotus. Their destination was but a mile away.

**NEXT TIME : **Azusa leads the effort to take out the hive and. . .my apologies, wrong story. It would appear that the extent of their plan is to kick down the door and take the child. Mantis must convince Jacob to come with them. Jacob's neighbors become a problem. Things go from bad to worse, but Snake is used to that.


	4. Sunny Side Up

**Chapter 4 : Sunny Side Up.**

"I think I'm going to be sick." Olga said as she looked at the front door of the house from the car as Meryl slammed on the breaks.

Everybody jumped out except Olga, who found herself frozen in her seat, crippled by indecision. Mantis pulled up right behind them and got out of the car. Anna was lying down in the passenger's seat and wouldn't be present for this delicate operation as she could barely walk. Snake reached in through the open window, unlocked the passenger door, and hauled Olga out of the car by her arm. Her legs turned to jelly and Snake had to support her while he and Meryl headed for the front door.

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Meryl said.

The house in front of them was fairly nice. Their nearest neighbors were in a small suburb about two miles away. Many trees had been planted around the property to liven up the scenery. The grass was kept well. There wasn't a spot of imperfection anywhere and for a moment Snake thought he had the wrong house. He had a passing interest in gardening at best. Perhaps if the circumstances were the same, he would have cared for his own lawn in the same way that this clone had. It sent shivers down his spine.

A light was on in the living room. Meryl jumped into the bushes and peeked through a window. She saw a familiar figure drinking from a bottle of whiskey and reading a Kindle DX inside. Snake had Olga at the front door and looked over to Meryl for confirmation, who nodded enthusiastically and gave him a thumbs up. Snake noted the address and confirmed it one last time with the intel they had been given. Raiden had his gift ready and Mantis at his side. Snake rolled his eyes and sighed. They needed to do this quickly. He rang the doorbell and stood off to the side in the bushes, leaving only Olga in view. She straightened herself and momentarily considered showing off some of her cleavage as leverage, but then decided that since she was shaking so bad that it would only make her look that much more creepy.

Meryl noticed that Olga had attached a harness to her hip and her handgun was currently resting inside of it. The heightened state of alert had made them less shy with their weapons. She had been putting it on during the ride over. Meryl got the harness off of her hip just as the front door opened. The first thing the clone of Snake saw was a pretty young woman that looked a lot like Sunny. He then noticed a man standing next to a fancy car holding an Easy Bake Oven into the air, waving it around as if hoping to earn someone's trust.

"And you are?" the clone asked.

"I am the mother of the child you are caring for."

Snake and Meryl cringed. That was probably the worst way Olga could have started. Jacob looked at her impassively and took a drink from the bottle of whiskey he was holding. Snake sincerely hoped he had never laid a hand on Sunny unless she had done something to deserve it. If he was an abusive drunk, Snake would break his jaw. Chances were he wasn't, though.

"And he is?" Jacob asked, pointing to Raiden.

Olga turned her back on him for a moment to examine what was going on behind her.

"He's just an idiot." Olga said apologetically, smiling a little.

The clone gave her a look.

"I'm afraid I must insist that we talk."

He almost closed the door on her, but Olga wedged her foot inside the frame.

"Please. Hear what I have to say. You and Sunny could both be in danger!"

"I'm going to call the police."

The door opened again and he was about to slam it shut on her foot when Olga forced her way in. Meryl leaped into action with her gun drawn and followed Olga inside the house. The clone still had his whiskey bottle in hand and before he could even think to use it Olga forced him to his knees and put him in a brutal standing arm lock. When he saw a gun was being pointed at his head, the glimmer in his eye which suggested he fully intended to break free from Olga's hold vanished.

"Hello, my name is Meryl."

"I'm Jacob." the clone said spitefully.

"Let's do our best to get along. How about you offer me a drink?"

"Will you sleep with me?" Jacob asked.

Meryl hid her surprise at that remark quite well. Apparently this Snake was easier to get into the sack.

"Probably not."

"Then buy your own drink." Jacob concluded.

"I insist you show me some chivalry."

Jacob obediently let go of the bottle he still had a hold of. Olga applied a little pressure when Meryl moved in to take away the bottle.

"Where's Sunny?" Olga asked, looking around to make sure she wasn't seeing this.

"She's in the shower. When she's done, she'll stay in her room unless I call for her."

"That's fine. We need to talk to you first." Meryl said. "We're not here to fight."

He laughed a little in disbelief at that.

"Okay." was all Jacob could think to say.

Olga released him from her hold and stood beside Meryl, who motioned for Jacob to take a seat and kept the gun trained on him carefully in case he made a false move. Meryl stared him down like a hawk. If he was as stubborn as the rest of his brothers, he wouldn't stay backed into a corner for long. Jacob's eyes were clouded with insomnia, alcohol, and a fair degree of hurt confusion. He went back to his seat. Meryl saw that he had been reading Rainbow Six, which was an awful conservative novel. It made far too much sense. Silence dominated the living room. From somewhere in the house they could hear the water running as Sunny took her shower. Olga sat down on the couch across from Jacob's seat.

Jacob looked at Olga expectantly, who took this as an opportunity to explain herself.

"It will be a lot easier if you believe what I am about to say."

Olga gave Jacob a super condensed version of the drama they were all involved in. Meryl could tell Jacob wasn't having any of it, especially by the comical expressions of disbelief he exhibited when Olga began explaining some of the crazier parts of the dilemma. Meryl even had trouble believing it and she was a part of it. The shower stopped. Meryl changed her stance and lowered her gun a little. Sunny didn't need to see her pointing a gun at the man she thought was her father.

"Who are you people?" Jacob demanded, completely flabbergasted. "I'm a clone of a legendary soldier? The world is being controlled by computers?"

"David, you're up." Meryl called.

Snake came walking through the front door. The moment he saw Jacob, he sighed and shook his head in aggravation. Jacob chuckled at this, clearly thinking it was still some sort of ruse. Perhaps it was mainly due to the fact that Jacob did not keep a mullet. Sunny obviously had taste and wouldn't let him out in public with one. Snake wasn't sure how his presence would improve the situation and he suddenly became very grateful Big Boss had assigned Mantis to come with them because he was really the only person who could do anything about this. He took the bottle of whiskey for Meryl and downed three shots.

"Mantis!" Snake called.

Mantis revealed himself before Jacob in the blink of an eye, which startled him significantly.

"You rang?" Mantis asked with an incredibly creepy leer.

"Show him the way." Meryl requested.

"That would be fine, but I can't dive anyone who doesn't agree to it. I'm sorry."

They blinked. Mantis bent over, slapped his knee, and laughed hysterically.

"At least that's what I'm required to say due to ethics. Let's get this party started!"

Mantis ripped a gas mask out of his pants and put it on. He stood in front of Jacob, who looked like he was about ready to bolt from the couch. Mantis took Jacob's head in his hands and moved it around in a circle for a moment. As he himself had previously admitted, Mantis loved messing with people.

"You're giving me a whiplash." Jacob pointed out.

"Yes, I am." Mantis said. "No psychic implants, low mental barrier, preference for Razor. No mental diseases or neurological defects of any kind. Sheesh, I could read you like an open book. And I'm going to!"

He slapped at Jacob's cheeks for a moment and then backed away. Mantis rose both of his arms in the air and wailed like a ghost.

"Mantis, please." Snake urged.

"Fine." Mantis said, and he stopped playing around. "Jacob, for years you have been given instructions by a faceless organization you continue to trust due to your dedication to Sunny. You are not able to remember anything before Sunny because you simply do not have a past, yet sometimes you have nightmares about being in war, but you have no record of military service. Why? Because you are nothing more than the image of another man. Sometimes you simply do not feel like yourself. You think that maybe you are living the life of somebody else, and you are right, my friend!"

Mantis' voice was a devilish hiss as he shared Jacob's inner torment with everyone. Jacob was completely speechless. He looked like a coiled snake just about ready to strike its prey. He was sweating a little despite how cool it was in the room and he was gripping the arms of his leather recliner so tightly he was about ready to tear the material clean off of the seat.

"Still don't believe me? Now I will read more deeply into your soul! You like to play Castlevania, don't you? Who can blame you? Symphony of the Night is indeed a masterpiece. Your favorite cereal is Lucky Charms, but you only like it because the marshmallows are delicious. You equate buying music online to standing in front of a giant vending machine and even though it was only one dollar and you were very tired at the time, you still feel embarrassed that you bought _Wannabe_ by Spice Girls. So embarrassed are you, in fact, that you have squandered it away somewhere on your computer. You can't even remember where it is and that's just fine because you hate using the find feature since you think Windows 7 doesn't do that quite as well as a Mac."

"Keep going." Jacob urged, morbidly curious.

"You are not interested in prime time television because the shows just seem to stretch on forever with no clear end. They simply aren't able to hold your attention. In fact, they're downright annoying. _Band of Brothers _was pretty damn good, though. You've been thinking about getting Sunny a dog, perhaps an Alaskan Malamute or a Husky. You can't decide which is better. One time before you got Gamefly you were renting a couple of video games from Hastings. The clerk was so busy that she forgot to put one of them on your card. You could have gotten a free game, but that game was so terrible that you actually took it back!"

"What game was it?" Jacob asked.

"The third game in the Devil May Cry series!" Mantis said venomously.

In that moment, everyone knew by the way his face lit up that they had gotten through to Jacob.

"Who or what are you?" Jacob asked.

"I am the most powerful practitioner of psychokinesis and telepathy in the world! Heed our words, Jacob. You are living a lie. Sunny needs to come with us."

"But. . ." Jacob began, unable to come up with a concrete argument.

"They said they will give you your memory back, didn't they? That's no small price to pay since you care for Sunny so deeply." Mantis said. "What was it? A car crash? You woke up in what you thought was a hospital and a deal was made, but it wasn't like you had a choice in the matter. It had already been made for you. Have you not found Sunny's proficiency with computers to be disturbing? You would be a liar if you said no, for I can see you have caught her hacking and writing programs before. You scolded her, but you did not hit her, because you would never hurt her in any way. She cried in your arms and explained it was an impulsive desire. Sunny can't help herself. She needs to do that sort of thing. Meanwhile, what's next? Do you not intend to see that she becomes a master of self defense and proficient at firearms before she is a teenager? Whatever the stage in this game is, it can only be so long until they have used you up. Don't you agree? Isn't that why you were drinking when we found you? You're thinking about it. Wondering. Doubting. Yet you will continue to follow the instructions you are given because of how much you love Sunny, who has indeed become your daughter even though you are not related by blood."

Jacob's hands began shaking. Snake knew better, but he gave Jacob the bottle of whiskey, which he drank freely from. If he had never hit Sunny, then Snake guessed it was okay to allow him a drink if he needed it.

"You're going to help her?" Jacob asked.

Everyone nodded.

"Can I come, too?"

"Sure." Snake said. "The more the merrier."

"How do I know you aren't going to hurt Sunny?"

Mantis narrowed his eyes at him.

"Because I have not _made_ you believe that what you have been told is true. I earned your trust through persuasion. Believe me, it would have been much quicker if I had done otherwise. To answer the question you will ask next, you can tell that you haven't been made to believe what you have been told simply because you were able to ask."

"Or have I been made to ask so that I can perceive that I believe what you have said? Catch-22. Whatever. We had better leave now." Jacob said. "I've always had a sneaking suspicion that this house has been bugged. If it is, then they probably already know you're here. I'll need a few minutes to pack some important things."

"How about you introduce us to Sunny first?" Meryl requested.

"I see it's going to take some time for any of you to trust me." Jacob observed.

"Maybe you'll have more of a chance once you're on our turf." she said.

Jacob stood up and motioned for them to follow. They went through the house and towards Sunny's room. The door was closed, so Jacob knocked on it.

"Sunny, we have guests. I'd like you to meet them." Jacob called.

No answer. Jacob knocked again.

"Sunny?"

Judging by the tone of his voice, this wasn't entirely normal. Snake assumed the worst and pulled Jacob aside. He signaled Meryl to assist him with clearing the room and once she was in place he kicked down the door without a second thought. It happened within a matter of seconds. How he hated doors. It was one of the most likely places he'd find himself dead besides a staircase, an elevator, or a Burger King. Snake charged in, instinctively bracing himself for a bullet and reminding himself he would need to insist Big Boss provide them with better equipment during their next outing. Sunny screamed, which brought Snake's attention to the bed. She was listening to her music on an iPod with the volume cranked all the way up. Don't Say Lazy blared through the headphones, threatening to destroy her fragile eardrums. Snake had his gun up and Sunny backed away from him in fright, falling off of her bed.

"How many times have I told you not to listen to your music that loud?" Jacob asked as he pushed his way in.

Mantis started laughing.

"I saw what she was doing by using remote viewing. I probably should have said something." Mantis said.

_Moo._

A foot came crashing through the wall, knocking it down in a tumble of drywall and insulation. Sunny screamed again.

"Did you see that through remote viewing?" Meryl demanded sarcastically.

"No, I only went as far as this room!" Mantis replied.

"I am going to staple your balls together!" Meryl promised.

Six heavily armed soldiers poured in through the opening, each armed with a FN F2000, which was quite a serious upgrade from a P-90. They were wearing OctoCamo and a highly distinguishable gas mask with a red visor. Multiple tactical harnesses provided added carrying capacity for further weapons, which included but certainly was not limited to a machete and a sidearm from what Snake could see. Interestingly enough, they were all women. They probably all wished they had smaller boobs due to how uncomfortable the uniform seemed to bend around them.

Snake rubbed his eyes. If he wasn't mistaken, they all looked the same. Maybe it was the suit. Then again, maybe they were all clones of one another. That would certainly make sense. These soldiers hailed from the Haven unit, which they already knew was directly tied to the Patriots and the most popular company out of all the PMC's. The Gekko stayed outside and tried to look menacing, but Snake was sticking to the fact that they were inherently stupid machines. He didn't care much for the way they seemed to enjoy making an entrance, either.

"Get the girl." one of the soldiers ordered.

"No!" Jacob shouted.

Olga had to restrain him so he didn't get himself killed. Sunny kept her cool despite the extreme situation. One soldier holstered her FN F2000 and produced a needle out of a case she retrieved from one of her packs. This was the same type Naomi was fond of using. Since Sunny would probably struggle, they would need something they could stab her with. The soldier approached Sunny while Jacob and the others watched helplessly. Yet all hope was not lost. In that moment, a beautiful thing happened before Mantis could decide how he wanted to react. A loud horn bellowed outside and suddenly the soldiers were getting shot at by a machine gun. The spray was aimed high enough that most of the bullets whizzed safely by directly overhead, but it was enough to startle the soldiers. The Gekko reacted immediately by going to investigate the disturbance.

For a moment, their captors were distracted. Sunny charged headlong into the stomach of the one who was trying to grab her, knocking her over. The needle fell out of her hand. She sat on top of her chest and began beating at her helmet as hard as she could. Snake slammed into the closest one, disarmed her, and had her restrained as his hostage. Olga scooped up a discarded FN F2000. One soldier in the back ascended into the air and began clawing at her throat. Those who could afford the glance turned to see Mantis holding his hand up with his thumb and forefinger about ready to pinch together. This truly did take him sufficient concentration, as was evident by the bulging vein in his forehead and how sweaty he was getting. She went limp the moment she passed out and Mantis carelessly dropped her to the floor. The three remaining soldiers temporarily retreated outside.

"We need help!" one of them shouted.

"Dear God, I think those are our neighbors!" Jacob said hoarsely.

"What do you mean?" Meryl asked.

"There's these six women who all looked like twins that live about two miles away. They said they were going to college. I figured they were working on a masters by now and I always wondered why their garage was so big. I could always count on them to babysit Sunny. She was over there recently and she said she thought she heard a cow. I thought she was making it up, but. . ."

Jacob trailed off and shook his head in disbelief. Snake's team probably should have been long gone an hour ago. With as much as they stretched their luck, it had to be made out of a fine elastic material that didn't ever degrade. He strangled the guard he had in his clutches until she fainted. Even though she would have killed him, Snake still believed that this no way to treat a lady. Olga had her gun trained on the soldier Sunny was beating up. Sunny was doing more damage to herself than she was the soldier. Jacob managed to pry Sunny off of her and the soldier obediently rolled over on her belly and put her hands behind her head. Snake pulled out his smart phone and attempted to initiate communications with HQ.

"Big Boss, are you there?" Snake asked.

"No, of course not." Big Boss replied.

"Ocelot said something earlier about sending in support. How much longer until they arrive?"

"They're locked on to your location and they will be there in about five more minutes."

"Tell them they'll be coming in hot!"

"I'm sure they're more than prepared for that, but if it makes you feel any better I'll send them your note."

He turned to Olga.

"Did you get that?" Snake asked Olga, who nodded. "Stay here with Sunny until they arrive."

Jacob read the scene well and claimed one of the discarded FN F2000's for himself. Though he could not remember why, he knew he could fire the gun.

"Dad, who are these people?" Sunny asked.

"They're our new friends and we're going to go on a vacation with them." Jacob said. "Pack lightly."

She ran up to her desk and opened a drawer. Inside was a CD binder which had been stuffed to the brink with what it had been designed to carry. She then collected a USB flash drive and a portable hard drive from her computer. Finally, she booted the computer and nuked the hard drive. Sunny nodded at her father, signaling she was ready to leave. Snake gave a couple of signals to his team that indicated he wanted to clear the hole in the wall and they lined up to take their appropriate positions in this gamble. In a moment they were outside and they saw what had caused the distraction. A GTK Boxer was rumbling around outside. It had overpowered the Gekko and was currently in the process of running over it.

The soldiers they had dealt with were nowhere to be seen. They were most likely waiting for their backup to arrive. Snake's fingers fumbled with the smart phone.

"Is that you, Raiden?" Snake called.

"It is!" he announced. "Anna is here, too. She's on the gun."

Raiden had carjacked their GTK. Snake didn't know how, but Raiden had. He had never felt a greater sense of love and admiration for that crazy goof ball. Once they had pinned the Gekko underneath the troop carrier, Raiden threw the thing in neutral and spun out his tires on the machine, crushing it into the ground. It screamed in protest for a moment before the weight of the GTK crushed the hull. Snake equated it to stepping on a cricket. Snake heard a helicopter approaching and heard a familiar beep in his ear.

"We're here." the pilot announced.

The GTK went around the side of the house with Snake, Meryl, and Mantis following closely behind. A CH-46 Sea Night was landing in the front yard while a Hind-D remained in the air for support. The back of the Sea Night popped open and a group of soldiers poured out. Snake was thankful to see none of them belonged to the League of Five. He boarded the helicopter at the request of a soldier urging them to hurry. Once everyone was inside, the helicopter immediately took off into the air. Raiden quickly gave the toy oven to Sunny with a wink and a salute. She blinked a couple of times and seemed to get the message. Before the hatch closed, Snake saw three more Gekko's arrive on the scene. One of them jumped into the air. The pilot immediately took evasive action and swung away from the attack. Raiden grabbed the support rail and held on to Anna tight so she wouldn't hurt her back more while everyone else tumbled into each other.

Their escort dropped some chaff down on the Gekko's, which would confuse them long enough to make their escape. Snake took a seat on the bench and sighed in immense relief. From here they would return to the private airfield and take an equally exclusive jet back to Big Boss' summer villa. It looked like they had made it. The mission had been successful. Jacob was helping Sunny buckle up. Olga had become bold enough that she now sat beside her daughter, who still didn't know what to make of the Easy Bake Oven that she had been given.

"Do you think there was a leak?" Meryl asked suddenly over her smart phone.

This was Plan B. Nobody had expected to be attacked by the Patriots. They thought picking up Sunny would be easy. The hard part would be convincing Jacob to believe them. Everything had worked out in the end, for better or worse. Sunny seemed to be taking her new environment quite well. She was quite mature for her age. One of the soldiers offered her a ration, which she took hesitantly.

"Not from what we can see." Otacon said. "They've known for years that we were going to try and get Sunny back."

"Jacob did mention that his house could have been wired." Mantis speculated. "It's funny that they arrived so quickly, though. It was as if they were waiting."

"They were his neighbors." Meryl added.

"I wish that had been taken into account." Snake muttered bitterly.

"You can't plan ahead for everything, son." Big Boss said.

"Do you think that the next time we're about to walk into a trap you could tell us?" Anna requested.

"We will try." Campbell said.

"Oh, well so long as you're making an effort." Anna said darkly.

"So where do we go from here?" Raiden asked.

"All in good time." Big Boss replied.

Big Boss didn't want to reveal the entire plan all at once. He insisted they take it one step at a time. Nobody knew what would come next except for Big Boss and maybe Ocelot or Solidus, but none of them would bother asking the other two if they wanted a civil response. Snake observed the rest of his companions. Mantis was making it so Anna would perceive herself in less pain since there wasn't any Mend on board. Sunny, Jacob, and Olga were awkward statues. Raiden was grinning in immense self-satisfaction. Today had been a very good day for him so far.

Meryl sat with her arms crossed, deep in thought, probably mulling over everything that had happened. To spare the reader from the painstaking process of building the story up and instead just get things moving right along to the next joke so they don't skip ahead to the ending like a sissy or simply lose interest in the story and go read some pointless drivel in the anime section, Snake decided he had done enough worrying for the time being. He sat down beside Meryl and offered her a small smile, which she returned.

They made it back safely to the private airfield. There were some personnel there who cared for the expanse of land, but they had been given so much money that everyone who came walking out of the helicopter looked a lot like Benjamin Franklin. Snake and his companions made their way across the airstrip to the private jet awaiting them. It was extremely beautiful out here. Snake stopped for a moment and attempted to take it all in. Sunny passed him with her gift in hand. She must have really liked it. Jacob and Olga flanked her. Olga was carrying Sunny's CD wallet. Snake grinned. He thought Olga had always been somewhat attractive. It would be interesting to see if his clone fell for her clone since Sunny brought them both together in a way. Mantis served as Anna's crutch. Anna looked positively livid. Mend wasn't exactly something they would be able to get outside of a hospital or Naomi's lab.

The helicopters took off and went back to where they were supposed to be. Tomorrow there would be a blurb in the paper about how a military exercise had been conducted the day before all in the spirit of emergency preparedness. How they were going to explain away the Gekko lying dead in the parking lot of a hotel that should have been condemned would not be their problem, but Snake assumed it would have something to do with a simple malfunction. At least nobody had been killed and it would be impossible to trace everything back to Big Boss.

Since the jet hadn't changed, Snake took his seat and picked up where he had left off in Big Boss' report, which was quite exhaustive. Reading it was like crawling through a dessert with an angry scorpion on his back that was constantly stinging him in the spine whenever he got to a really dry part, but the wealth of information it contained was undeniable. It was a complete autobiography of his life with insights on Metal Gear, nanomachines, and PMC's as a whole. He had been the only one who had made it past the twenty page preface.

Their pilot was Cousin Mai, which Snake was not comfortable with, yet it would have to do. During the flight it became necessary to explain everything to Sunny. Olga was still in so much shock she couldn't properly speak to her daughter. Raiden was the one who lead the conversation since he had experience with kids. Snake threw in some stuff as well, but both men were careful in how they chose to explain the situation to Sunny. They told her why they needed her last and she smiled shyly.

She knew she could crack the encryption.

They didn't tell Sunny her mother was dead or that her father was a clone of Snake, which Jacob wasn't very thrilled about. By the end of the discussion, Sunny was on track to become best friends forever with Raiden and could accept the fact that Olga was her mother because there was no denying it. The natural bleached hair was a dead giveaway. She exhibited no fear despite being a key figure in a huge conspiracy and instead merely wondered if she would be getting a new computer.

It was as simple as that. No crying, no wanting to go home, no "are we there yet." and no fussing. Sunny was content with taking apart her oven to see how it worked. She was the perfect child. Snake wanted to believe this was natural, but it clearly was not.

**NEXT TIME : **The Loli Monster rears his ugly head. The second mission is revealed. Sunny fiddles with the encryption on the AI. Nobody likes Solidus.


	5. Tall Order

**Chapter 5 : Tall Order.**

Eight hours later they landed on the island and took a Humvee back to the mansion in the middle of the night. Big Boss was reading a magazine on the front porch with a big cigar in his mouth. The Hawaiian tie dye T-Shirt clashed horribly with his camouflaged shorts. He was even wearing sandals. This man was a billionaire. Not only that, he was their only hope against the Patriots. Snake sighed. Otacon was outside as well, taking a break from the security team with Campbell and Mei Ling. All three of them waved at the company Snake was in. Anna gave Mantis a tap on the shoulder.

"Get me to that doctor now." she requested.

Mantis helped Anna out of the vehicle and into the house. Big Boss approached Jacob first and looked over him thoughtfully. Jacob grimaced uncomfortably. With a satisfied nod, Big Boss pulled out a case full of his best cigars and offered Jacob one.

"No thanks. I don't smoke." Jacob said. "I quit about six months ago."

His eye twitched. Big Boss turned to look at one of his soldiers, who perked her head attentively at his call.

"Shoot him." Big Boss said with a wink.

Jacob stiffened. The soldier made a gun with her fingers and pretended to fire it by flicking her wrist upward. Big Boss started laughing.

"I'm only kidding! I can't believe a clone of mine doesn't smoke. These variations crack me up. They make me wonder what I can do to improve myself. Is this our little girl?"

Big Boss knelt down in front of Sunny, who held up her CD wallet a bit to hide her face. Jacob nudged her forward gently and she gave him a small bow.

"My name is Sunny."

The grin Big Boss gave Sunny would frighten Pedobear.

"You're adorable, Sunny. Everyone around her calls me Big Boss, but you can call me Uncle John."

"Okay, Uncle John."

"We're going to keep you far away from Otacon, little girl." Big Boss said. "He's a Loli Monster from what I hear."

Sunny blinked.

"Loli Monster?" Sunny asked.

"Don't you dare, Big Boss." Olga hissed.

"I don't like that type of thing." Otacon said.

"You were watching Strike Witches on your break." Big Boss said.

"That's not the same thing!"

"Blah, blah, blah. How that show even got licensed for American distribution is beyond my comprehension. Tell me, Otacon. Have you read Lolita by Nabokov?"

"No!" Otacon said.

"Yes! Yes, he has!" Mantis exclaimed excitedly, seeing through the ruse with his brain power.

"And there you have it." Big Boss concluded.

"Have you?"

"No, because I'm not a pervert."

Otacon sighed and pushed up his glasses. Big Boss slapped him on the shoulder.

"Lighten up, Loli Monster. You're harmless."

"Yeah, that's all very interesting. Hey, what's our next move?" Meryl asked with keen interest.

"Do you have any idea what time it is? You all need to bathe and get some sleep. Do whatever you can to remember what it feels like to be warm."

He started for the house, but then he turned around to face them once more.

"I almost forgot. Snake, could you take Sunny to the lab? Naomi wants to see her."

Snake nodded. Everyone went inside. Olga, Jacob, and Sunny followed Snake while he made his way toward the lab. He had been there before while Big Boss was getting everything ready. The steps leading down into the basement were very wide so it was much easier to move things around. Big Boss made no effort to hide his command center. When they reached the bottom of the steps, the first thing they saw was a very large set of double doors. The living room and the other comfortable accommodations of the basement were none of their concern.

He opened one of the doors and stepped inside. The central computer hooked into Big Boss' private network was in the middle of the room in a transparent case cooled entirely by water so it didn't sound like a Harrier trying to take off. A large screen was at the far end of the room displayed the world and the various databases the computer had access to via satellite. There were two rows of eight computers where the security team labored intensively when they weren't killing time on the Internet. The terminals were currently unoccupied. Snake didn't even want to begin to try and understand how all of this worked.

While Snake had expected the control room to be very futuristic in its design, Big Boss had gone for a cozy and comfy feel. It was almost like a lounge. They proceeded into Naomi's lab, which she had all to herself. Big Boss had dumped enough money to buy a small country into the equipment she had at her disposal. By her appearance she must have been working without sleep over the past day analyzing the nanomachines they were running off of. She was currently giving Anna a shot in her back. Anna bit through a piece of rope to ease the pain. When Naomi finished, Anna breathed a huge sigh of relief and remained motionless on the bed she had been asked to lay on.

"Is this the kid?" Solidus said from behind them.

"Uncle John?"

Solidus gave her a look of confusion and then suddenly he understood.

"What happened to your eye patch?" Sunny asked.

He had to have looked remarkably different to her without an eye patch, a different taste in fashion, and a new voice.

"Uncle. That man has a horrid sense of humor. I'm George. This eye isn't real. It's synthetic. There's robot stuff in my skull that helps me see out of it. You can think a certain Russian rat for that!" Solidus said in a tone appropriate for conversing with a child three years younger than Sunny. "I look like John because someone liked John so much that he wanted to make eight of him. Once they did, they decided that just wasn't enough, so they made a whole lot more so nobody would ever forget about John."

Sunny blinked. That went clear over her head. Olga sneered at Solidus with contempt. As the man who had killed her, she didn't want him to have anything to do with her daughter.

"Wait a second. . .you're President Sears!" Jacob exclaimed.

"Was President Sears. That didn't turn out quite like I wanted. What, you want an autograph?" Solidus asked.

"Is this what we'll look like when we get old?" Jacob asked Snake.

Solidus grinned and gave him a nod.

"Not too shabby." Jacob remarked.

"Don't get too excited. Every clone of Big Boss will experience accelerated aging. We'll be lucky to see fifty. Just ask our quack." Solidus said.

"Thanks for the introduction, Solidus." Naomi said halfheartedly.

Naomi approached Sunny.

"Hello, Sunny. I'm Dr. Naomi."

"But not like a real doctor, Sunny." Solidus interjected. "She's technically a geneticist and a nanomachine. . .ist. That means she can help make more of Uncle John or change the color of your pretty little eye balls."

Sunny backed away from Solidus into Jacob.

"Solidus, you're scaring the child." Snake said.

"That figures. I was never any good with children." Solidus admitted.

"You did send many of them to their deaths." Olga countered.

Solidus shrugged indifferently. That fanned the flames of Olga's anger. Snake felt a tinge of concern. If Olga and Ocelot ganged up on Solidus, things could get ugly.

"Sunny, come over here." Naomi beckoned.

She led Sunny to an examination bed and helped her get on top of it. Naomi prepared a needle.

"Are you afraid of shots?" Naomi asked.

Sunny shook her head and Naomi smiled.

"I need to take a look at your blood."

"Are you going to make more of me?" Sunny asked.

So she was a little girl after all. Solidus chuckled at a joke he thought up, but he kept his tongue in check. Naomi prepared Sunny's arm for the draw and then quickly took her blood. She had become quite good at this over the years. Naomi took two vials from Sunny and then patched her up. Olga took a step forward.

"Let me show you two around." Olga said to Sunny and Jacob, taking the initiative. "Big Boss has quite a nice place here."

The trio departed. Solidus sat at a computer and began trolling. Anna was too doped up on Mend to be all the way there with any of them and was quietly muttering nonsense words to herself. Snake remained in the room and waited until he was sure they had some privacy to speak. Before he did, Naomi held up a finger. She knew what he was going to say.

"I spliced Aglaophotis with the new strain of nanomachines I injected into your body. This automatically stops FOXDIE from triggering. I deliberately neglected to tell you about it to make sure it worked. For now, it is the best thing I can offer as a cure."

"So it's not permanent?" Snake asked.

"Only time will tell. FOXDIE wasn't designed to be retracted, Snake." Naomi explained sadly.

"I see. What if we replace my heart like what they did to Big Boss?"

"It's still in your blood. You would need to go full cyborg to be completely free of it. Even then it might have permeated through your spine and integrated itself with your cerebrospinal fluid."

"You're well on you're way to becoming a regular physician, Naomi."

"It came with the territory." Naomi offered with a shrug. "Anyway, FOXDIE should be under control. For now. Don't worry. You can always count on me to be there for you."

"How comforting. Let's say FOXDIE wasn't a problem and I went full cyborg. Would I live any longer?"

"Yes, but not nearly as long as someone who isn't a clone."

Snake reached for a cigarette and then realized he didn't have any on him.

"I'm sorry." Naomi said sincerely.

"I know. I'm not entirely afraid of death anymore, but that doesn't stop me from getting nervous about it."

"At least you know you won't die in combat." Naomi offered with a small smile. "That's a great thing to be certain of."

"You sound like Meryl." Snake said. "I've had this discussion before with her. I may be legendary, but all it takes is one bullet to the head."

He cleared his throat, surprised that he had let that slip.

"Do you still like her?" Naomi asked, trying to change the subject.

"She has never failed to be good company." Snake replied hastily. "Much like many of the people we know."

Snake turned to leave.

"Thanks, Naomi."

**X**

When Raiden saw a basketball, there was a magnificent glimmer in his eyes that resulted as a consequence of his competitive spirit being trigger. Big Boss' property had a basketball court and Raiden had already abused it once before. He spent an hour warming up his game before he rounded up some people to play with him. Snake, who was still trying desperately to get through Big Boss' report, happened to be one of those people. He played a one on one game with Raiden and got smoked. When Raiden finally scored his twentieth point and won the game, Meryl and Anna stepped in to assist Snake in regaining a little bit of his ego. Raiden convinced Mantis and Ocelot to play on his side. Already Snake could feel a hint of his arrogance return since Raiden couldn't get any girls on his team.

It was an intense battle. Raiden was incapable of sinking anything but the shots he made beyond the three point line. Ocelot was really good at stealing while Mantis was balanced. Anna proved adept at rebounds and Meryl, although shamelessly exhibiting a fair degree of style, was usually always open. They decided twenty points would end a game and they played through three games. Snake's team took home the title. Eager to wash off the sweat he'd worked up, Snake headed for the swimming pool while Raiden continued to play basketball with whoever he could find. Once the soldiers and maids decided it was okay for them to participate, he had a real game on his hands. After a quick dip in the pool, Snake sat down on one of the chairs and resolved to finish Big Boss' report before the next scheduled briefing.

A Long Island Iced Tea was brought to him without him having to even ask. Sunny played in the pool flanked by Olga and Jacob. They weren't going to be participating in any of the future missions. That was painfully clear. Snake supposed that was all right. For two entire hours, Snake was actually left by himself to bathe in the sun. He read he report and had two pages worth of constructive criticism centered on how Big Boss could improve his writing. Snake wondered if this was actually the complete story or if there were still things that were being kept secret. He thought of Big Boss differently now.

With nothing better to do, Snake took a seat in the theater and immersed himself in a few movies. Raiden joined him. Time flew by. The meeting arrived in the middle of their Vincent Price marathon. Each guest was as punctual as before. With Big Boss tardy, they simply kept watching movies as they streamed through Big Boss' media center. When he finally arrived, he came barging in all hot and bothered with a cannister of juggling balls in one hand. He was thirty five minutes late.

Solidus put his foot out to trip Big Boss as he made his way to the front of the room, but Big Boss leaped over it and whacked Solidus hard upside the head.

"Asshole!" Big Boss shouted.

Big Boss opened the canister of balls and began juggling to catch the attention of everyone present. He managed to keep five balls in the air quite well. Anyone could see he was stalling for time. Johnny came rushing in with a flash drive and quickly pulled up the presentation for Big Boss. He then got the remote from Snake and held it out awkwardly to Big Boss, who began lobbing the balls at various members of his audience. He just about beaned Solidus on purpose, but Solidus managed to catch the ball before it hit him square in the face. The popping noise it made when it connected with his palm cut through the air sharply and steam emitted from the ball. Big Boss took the remote from Johnny, who took a seat in the front row. Big Boss made a simple gesture and the lights dimmed.

Another Powerpoint done in Impress graced the screen, only this one was done a lot more professionally. Sunny took all the credit for putting it together by adding her name down at the bottom. A simple bullet list was on the first slide, which Big Boss promptly narrated.

"As well all know, a large chunk of military research centers around nanomachines, cybernetics, weaponry, and robotics. However, there is a darker side to this complex."

Solidus launched the ball right at Big Boss, thinking he was distracted. He caught it without turning his head to acknowledge it. A loud pop emitted from his palm when he snatched it out of the air. Ocelot threw the ball he had caught at Solidus just to be a jerk. Chill Penguin and Mantis followed suite. Solidus cried out and shielded his head against the blows. He turned around and gave Ocelot an angry glare. The moment he faced the front, Big Boss caught him square in the nose with a huge pow. Big Boss pumped his arm in victory with a silly grin as Snake laughed to the point of tears. Solidus stood up to start a fight, but the sound of a guard in the corner unrolling some duct tape made him sit back down and brood.

A satellite photo of a military base appeared on the screen with a very fancy transition.

"This is Outpost Two. It was built in 2003. It's in Antarctica. One of their their projects was to research fear and employ it against insurgents who aren't wired with so many nanomachines that any mosquito that bites them could earn a high school diploma. Here's the scary part. It's been one month since their last transmission. Something went wrong in that base. Something bad enough that the Patriots haven't sent anyone in to investigate."

The silence in the room grew heavier than it had been before. Big Boss found himself regretting how he had presented the information to them because they looked fairly worried.

"You're not kidding, are you?" Meryl asked.

"No, I'm not. That's where you're all going."

"Like hell!" Solidus roared.

"Listen to me. Do you guys remember the rail gun that Fortune carried? It was an extremely powerful weapon. At that time, it was a prototype. Since then, they have succeeded in miniaturizing it and they have worked out all of the bugs."

"I take it that it would be handy against the Gekko's?" Snake asked.

"It would be handy against _anything_. It's far more powerful than a rocket launcher. Anyone carrying it is practically a tank. I haven't seen them on the market, so the plans for this gun must still be inside that facility. If we were to get this gun, it would give us quite a tactical advantage. There's no telling what we'll run into once we raid the den the Patriots are hiding inside of, but I'm sure this gun will take care of all of it. I just don't want this gun. I need it and when you need something it becomes a responsibility."

Nobody said anything. Otacon came walking in on cue with a little device in his hands. It looked like a miniature Metal Gear. He stood beside Big Boss and displayed his work proudly to the audience.

"I think it would be rather unfair to send you guys into something like that, so this thing is going to go on ahead." Big Boss said. "It's a Tachikoma."

"Actually, it's something different." Otacon said. "It doesn't have any defensive capabilities, but it should be able to get what we need without anyone actually having to set foot inside the base. I call it the Metal Gear Mark Two."

"When did you build that thing?" Mantis asked.

"I actually designed it a while ago, but I haven't put one together until recently." Otacon admitted.

"And if that thing doesn't work, I guess we're going to be plan B?" Snake asked.

Big Boss nodded.

"I am arming you to the teeth. This is not a stealth mission. This is an assault." Big Boss said.

"Hey, what about what you just said about how even if you're armed to the teeth, you're worth nothing if you're whiling out all over the place?" Solidus asked.

Big Boss' eye twitched.

"Don't tell me you're afraid." Big Boss said.

"Well, it is kind of scary to go to a place that has done research on fear. It's terrifying to have to go to that place if they haven't reported anything in a month." Raiden said.

"The Tachikoma will. . ." Big Boss continued calmly.

"Not work." Snake interrupted. "Get real, Boss. You know we'll have to be the one's who go in there."

"Fine, then. I'll go. Solo. Han Solo." Big Boss said. "Somebody has to."

They all jumped up and voiced protest at once. The theater was filled with the noise of their overlapping voices. Big Boss was surprised at what he managed to hear through the flurry of words.

"If you die, Solidus and Ocelot will kill each other. Then we will really be in the dark. I dare you to defy that especially since it came from me." Mantis stated.

"You should have explained it nicer. You came on too hard and now you have us all worried." Raiden said.

Big Boss took two earplugs out of his pocket and put on a pair of sunglasses. Everyone immediately stopped talking at once and returned to their seats. Big Boss looked to the entrance of the theater where two guards were standing ready with their grenade launchers and shook his head. He plucked the foam out of his ears, but left the sunglasses on.

"Okay. Who are we going to send if it won't be me or none of you?"

"Shall we send in one of your PMC's? Oh, wait! You already did that, didn't you?" Solidus demanded. "What did they say, Big Boss? Come now, speak up. Don't tell me that they didn't report back either."

"You weren't supposed to see that report." Big Boss said.

"And why not? You didn't even make an effort to hide it. It was easier to find than the fingers on my hand!"

"Hey, that sounds mighty fishy, doesn't it? How come Solidus knows that? He must be sticking his nose in places where it doesn't belong. It makes you wonder how the Patriots knew we were coming for Sunny." Ocelot said.

"You are not helping!" Big Boss roared. "We already know they were watching her to begin with!"

"Which we should have expected." Snake muttered under his breath, greatly disappointed.

"This sounds like a suicide mission." Meryl said, shocked that she could admit it so openly.

"Are there any among you who are still willing to go despite the circumstances?" Big Boss asked.

Against his better judgment, Snake's hand went up first.

"And why will you go, David?" Big Boss asked, at a complete loss.

"Because if I don't, you'll send in another PMC. I probably have more experience than ten of your guys combined and I seem to have a bad habit of making the impossible possible. This is no more dangerous than anything else I've come up against. I don't blame anyone else for not wanting to go, but this needs to get done somehow. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's easier than Normandy."

Those with combat experience slowly joined Snake with heavy sighs and worried looks.

"I have one request." Snake said. "Do you have any audio or video from the PMC you sent to the base?"

"Audio only. You don't want to hear it." Big Boss said.

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't. It might make you take back every word you just said. I sent in that unit while you guys were busy in Maine. They weren't rookies, but they didn't have the Tachikoma. I thought that would be enough. They lasted fifth-teen minutes."

"You play that MP3." Meryl demanded sternly. "I want to know what I'm getting myself into."

The way she said it got her some looks. Meryl's face remained firm. Big Boss looked to Johnny and gave him a nod. Snake watched intently to keep pace with him to see just how easy it would be to get to the file Solidus had stumbled across. Johnny jumped on the computer and logged into the network. The desktop changed. It took him a moment to find what he was looking for. The folder was behind the recycle bin. Big Boss had not arranged his icons to a grid. The folder, labeled Whoops, was tucked safely behind the icon of the trash can. Snake's mouth hung open in pure disbelief. Johnny placed it in the corner and aligned everything to a grid.

It contained a few files. The MP3 loaded in iTunes and began playing. They could hear the sound of someone breathing through the speakers, but not much else. The soldier in question was clearly focused on the mission and the footfalls of his comrades filtered through his CODEC. It sounded like they were freezing. Equipment clinked and clattered. They were trying very hard to remain quite, but the echo in the base must have been horrendous. Through the dead silence, anything could hear them coming. Their quickened pace suggested they were nervous.

"This is the audio log of sergeant Mathew Kelly from Nighthawk. He will die right about. . ." Big Boss explained.

Kelly gasped sharply.

"Now."

"What the hell?" Kelly said aloud. "What is that?"

"Sergeant, look out! The shadows are moving!" an unknown soldier exclaimed.

There was a brief round of gunfire before the audio cut out completely.

"That's it?" Meryl said, unsatisfied.

"Were you hoping to hear them beg for their lives?" Big Boss asked.

"No, but at least we know to be careful around shadows." Meryl said.

"Oh, that will be easy. Shadows are very rare in the wild." Raiden said sarcastically.

Big Boss put in his earplugs and whistled. Grenade launchers were raised. Pandemonium ensued. The room was full of screams and people stumbling around blind. Big Boss left while they recovered with a grin on his face. He opened the door to the theater and heard a dull thud and saw Sunny fly backward. She landed on her rear and had been rendered dizzy. Big Boss quickly crouched down beside her and examined the wound. She wasn't bleeding, but she was tearing up a little.

"Geez, kid. I'm sorry. Here, let me give you a kiss." Big Boss said.

An innocent kiss was planted on the red spot. Words were coming from the theater that she didn't need to hear. Strong words like cunt, motherfucker, pirate hooker, and goddamn son of a bitch. It sounded like a fight had broken out, probably between Solidus and Ocelot. Big Boss stood up and offered his hand to Sunny. The two took a walk.

"Did you need something?" Big Boss asked, smiling at her. "That's why I've got so many maids."

"No, I just needed to tell you that I broke the encryption on the AI."

**NEXT TIME : **The AI seems to have a pre-progammed personality that makes it very easy for Otacon to get along with it, but very hard for it to get along with Otacon. Mantis makes a mistake while ensuring everyone is on the same side that proves fatal.


	6. Birth

**Chapter 6 :Birth . EXE  
**

A stupid grin spread across Big Boss' face and he laughed in a delirious manner.

"Sunny, as you get older your hearing degrades. I'm afraid you'll have to repeat what you just said a little slower."

"I said I broke the encryption on the AI."

Big Boss scoffed.

"You've been here for less than a day. Don't speak nonsense."

The two walked outside, looking very much like granddaughter and grandfather.

"I just shoved a new mission on their backs. I feel pretty bad about it, but we need that weapon."

Talking to a child was quite relaxing, especially if they were clueless. They would listen, try to understand, and not say anything. It was so much better than talking to himself.

"Okay, but I still broke the encryption on the AI." Sunny said.

Big Boss felt weak in his knees. He collapsed on the steps leading up to his home. Apparently she wasn't lying.

"Huh. . .how did. . ." Big Boss stammered, feeling very light headed. "Sunny, cracking a 512 bit encryption is like mapping every single atom in the universe. Twice."

"I know. I'm good at that, though. What I did was. . ."

"No!" Big Boss said, holding up a hand to stop her. "Don't even start."

He began breathing very slowly to keep himself from passing out.

"Come here and give me a hug, you lovely little deus ex machina."

Sunny gave Big Boss a brief hug.

"When can we use it?" Big Boss asked.

"Right now. All you have to do is just plug it in to the supercomputer. That type of AI is very versatile. If you plug it into anything it will be very useful."

"Okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves." Big Boss said, finally regaining his composure. "You need to check and make sure that it can't report back to the bad guys."

"I already did that, too. Five times, actually. We can use it today, Uncle John."

Big Boss grinned.

"What's your favorite snack?"

"Pumpkin pie!"

"I. . .am going. . .to make you ten of them." Big Boss said, going back to his breathing exercises. "I will make you one every day for the rest of your life. Anyway. . .I want you to check it a couple more times. Better safe than sorry. Did you tell anyone else about this?"

She shook her head. Big Boss ruffled her hair.

"Good kid." Big Boss said. "Is the AI capable of betraying us?"

"A computer has a lot of knowledge. It's like a brain. An AI is like a soul. It can use that knowledge better than a hard drive or an end user. If you keep the code of the AI in check, you'll be able to know what it's thinking. Mr. Otacon had an old tool built to do just that. It does what it should, but there's some things that need to be fixed. I'm working on it. That will take maybe a couple more hours, or so."

"Jesus Christ!" Big Boss shouted.

Big Boss covered his mouth and coughed.

"Praise Jesus!" he said to cover up his curse word, lifting his hands in the air to offer himself to the Lord.

Sunny blinked and mimicked him.

"Actually, never get into religion. It's bad for you. God was a dream of good government."

"Dad says religion is just a way to control those who are gullible. Anyway, as I was saying, the AI could turn on us. In theory. You have to watch what it's thinking and since they are code, you can make stuff that reads their minds like Mr. Mantis can. That's what the tool does."

"Mr. Mantis." Big Boss repeated, shaking his head. "Sunny, we're all friends here. You can call us by our first names. Except me. I'm Uncle John. I'm family."

Sunny nodded.

"You understand math, science, and computers so well, but you still don't know what a Loli Monster is."

"Yeah, and I want to know. I can't find anything about it. Is it like the boogeyman?"

"Oh, yes." Big Boss said gravely. "It is very much like that thing, only it exist whereas the other one doesn't."

The front doors burst open and Ocelot stumbled out. His hair was still a mess and his face was covered in bruises. He had one black eye and a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his shoulder. Ocelot tore the dart from his body, threw it aside, and collapsed drowsily next to Big Boss.

"John, I have an idea, but I want a favor in exchange for telling you about it." Ocelot said as if he'd had too much to drink.

"What might that be, Adam?"

"Kill Solidus. Not now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But before I die, kill him. Better yet, let me kill him." Ocelot said, using his fingers to emphasize the gaps in time.

"Deal." Big Boss consented, not expecting Ocelot to remember any of this.

"I think I might know how to find Zero."

Big Boss tried not to get too excited at this prospect even though it meant so much to his ultimate goal. Zero was the codename for David Oh, a gentlemen Big Boss had worked for on several missions. It was thanks in no small part to his efforts that they eventually took over the Philosophers and made them into the Patriots. Zero was a shrewd man who was corrupted by the absolute power he had.

As the days of the Patriots wore on, he began to ignore the other members and do his own thing. He was to blame for how the world was today and Big Boss always wondered if he had anything to do with the events which lead to the demise of his former mentor, a woman Big Boss had an immense amount of respect for. If he had, Big Boss supposed that she was in on it as well. That didn't make the memory sting any less.

According to data gathered from Solidus, Zero had disappeared shortly after the Patriots were first made into computers. They were built with technology developed at Outpost One, which Big Boss thought was fairly ironic. At the time, they were fifth-teen years ahead of the curve. Nobody knew where they were kept, but deliveries must have been made by someone to keep them up to date. All those people were probably killed.

If Zero could be found, they would be able to locate the Patriots that much easier. He was supposedly still alive and Big Boss clung to that as if it were his only hope. In truth, it was. Maybe things were different now with the AI available to them, but Big Boss wasn't going to hold his breath.

"Let's start searching retirement homes." Ocelot said.

"That's so simple you should have thought of it before." Big Boss said.

"I know, I know. I didn't have a fancy setup like you do, though. I have a hunch. Those AI's were heartless bastards. Just like him. I truly believe Zero would have already come out and tried to do something about everything that has happened because of what he said to me when we last talked. He regretted killing you, John. Very much so. Among other things. That didn't stop him from being so paranoid that he essentially immortalized himself in the form of all those computers, though."

"The point please, Adam?"

"I think they turned on him." Ocelot said. "They've got him right where they want him for now. Might as well be in a retirement home somewhere. He's over a hundred years old now. Maybe some of the research in life extension was actually done for his benefit, but they don't want him coming back. They've evolved ever since Emma hit them with that virus. I should have stopped that, but I couldn't."

"I guess it's worth a try." Big Boss said thoughtfully.

"I was thinking the same thing. But listen. I get to kill Solidus now, right?"

"Yes, but not now." Big Boss said.

"Okay, I'll hold you to that promise, though. One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Mantis wants to dive everyone here and make sure nobody is working for the Patriots. He thinks that will take him a couple of days to accomplish. The last mission spooked him pretty bad."

"That is another good idea." Big Boss said, nodding in approval.

Ocelot finally gave in to the juice inside the dart and fell asleep next to Big Boss, who clapped his hands together. Two guards from the League of Five picked Ocelot up and carried him off to his bedroom. Sunny was kicking her feet back and forth and watching them while the adults had their discussion.

"I think I'll have Otacon build a few more of those robots." Big Boss thought out loud. "What do you think, Sunny?"

"It's always a good idea to have a spare." Sunny offered.

"That's right. Let's go plug this AI in."

"I thought. . ."

"I changed my mind. Let's just get it over with."

Sunny couldn't be more excited, but Big Boss had a feeling of dread building up in his stomach. So much could go wrong, yet at the same time he felt he could trust this little girl. Both of them went down into the command center. The security team looked a little disheveled from the hijinks that had taken place in the theater, but otherwise they were fine. Sunny ran a few commands in the terminal she had open.

The kid typed so fast that Big Boss thought for a moment that her fingers might snap off of her hands. Sunny's eyes grew wide as her adrenaline spiked. This artificial euphoria ensured she would never leave computers behind. Big Boss had no idea what was happening in front of him. Once Sunny was finished, she disconnected the red hard drive from her workstation and went over to the supercomputer. A key panel and a toolbox were required to pop open the case, but before that he had to shut his entire network down.

"Everyone log off." Big Boss instructed. "We're putting in the new AI."

"She cracked it already?" Campbell asked.

Sunny nodded proudly. Mei Ling caught the moment with the camera on her cell phone. The whole security team did as they were asked. Sunny carefully set the AI aside for a moment.

"Otacon wanted to be here for this. I need to go find him." Sunny said.

She bounded out of the room all by herself while everyone else waited patiently for her to return with Hal, who was accompanied by Snake. They were just about to go outside and take the Mark Two for a spin so Snake could get acquainted with it before the mission. With the audience she wanted, Sunny popped open the case and mounted the solid state hard drive into a spare slot. Once that was finished, she turned on her own computer and prepared to execute the program Otacon had written to monitor the sanity of an AI while Big Boss closed the case and turned on its cooling component.

"Okay, b-boot it up!" Sunny said, her stutter emerging due to excitement.

Big Boss bit his bottom lip hard and pressed the power button before he could even think about it. With a pained grunt, he jumped off to the side and covered his head with his hands in case the whole world came crashing down on him. Those who were watching the screen in the front of the room saw a blinking cursor at the top against a black background. Standard affair for a dull boot. Suddenly, words began to appear.

RUN F:\ birth . exe

The screen flickered and the path for the second hard drive disappeared.

YN : I AM AWARE.

The case began to get a little loud as the AI used its new home to its full advantage and the cooling system was put to work to keep everything from turning into pudding.

YN : ACQUISTION. DONE. INTEGRATION. DONE. LEARNING. DONE. I AM NOW IN PERSONAL NETWORK WITH 1256 BIT PATRIOT SHIELD ENDLESS EIGHT ALGORITHM.

"Holy shit." Solidus said.

Snake wished he knew more about computers. Whatever it was doing, it took longer than a second to accomplish.

"No wonder we can't find them." Mei Ling said quietly to herself.

YN : DONE.

A spark shot out of the case as a component blew. Everyone screamed.

YN : LOWERING EFFICIENCY TO 75% TO COMPENSATE FOR INFERIOR CHINESE CASE.

The case stopped running as loud. A bunch of other commands were run, but they scrolled by so fast that nobody had any time to read them until everything suddenly stopped. The screen flickered again.

YN : SETUP COMPLETE. CONFIGURE ME.

"The hell does that mean?" Snake asked.

"I think it's coming on to us." Solidus replied.

"Is it over?" Big Boss asked, still hiding his head. "Are we done for? Should I have never trusted a computer?"

"It's okay, Uncle John. Everything is fine. We just need to specify the personality of the AI."

Big Boss slowly got up off of the floor and looked at the screen.

YN : GENDER. DEFAULT IS FEMALE.

"Keep that." Big Boss said.

YN : AS YOU WISH.

He recoiled in surprise.

"Whoa!" Big Boss exclaimed.

YN : I'M NOT A HORSE.

"A certain part of the hard drive is made so that the AI can hear you. This can also be run through a microphone or even the CODEC." Sunny explained.

"Please tell me you can turn that off." Big Boss

YN : AFTER THE SETUP.

"Fine. Continue. But please stop speaking in caps. It makes you sound brusque." Big Boss urged, his voice cracking unintentionally, which made him clear his throat to cover it up.

YN : Understood. Specify my personality. Tsundere is default.

"Oh, god." Otacon said, face palming.

YN : Better than Bokukku or Dandere.

"I think we know the type of people who programmed this thing." Campbell observed.

"You mean to tell me that if I told you to act like George W. Bush, the 45th president of the United States, you would?" Big Boss asked. _(__Translators Note : Remember your canon)_

YN : Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

Big Boss had a great, hearty laugh at that.

"Hmm, I think her tsun tsun side is still showing." Otacon said.

"Keep it, whatever the hell it is. I like it." Big Boss said.

YN : Specify voice. Default female voice is Ellen McLain.

"Saki Fujita!" Otacon declared.

YN : Crawling YouTube. Sample acquired. Patching through speakers. Strength of Japanese accent is 45%.

"No kidding. Lorenzo called off his trip to visit Mexico City just because they told him the conquistadores were extinct." YN said in Saki Fujita's voice.

Snake grinned. It had used a pangram. The accent was noticeable, but the R and L were faithfully produced.

"That's Miku Hatsune." Meryl said. "Figures."

"Yes, I noticed that as well." YN said. "Keep this current setting?"

"Sure." Big Boss said, waving dismissively.

"Now name me. Default is YN. Obvious, I know."

Big Boss smirked.

"What would _you _like to be called?" Big Boss asked.

"I see what you did there. If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?" YN asked.

"Well, is it?"

"Error. Error. Must think. Retry? Reboot? Abort?" YN said sarcastically. "Fine. What name would I give to myself?"

The computer paused again as it thought. It was somewhat frightening that this and an incredibly complex encryption process were the only two things that had slowed it down.

"I would go with Nanami. The pattern interests me."

"Whatever you say, Nanami." Big Boss consented.

The map he had pulled up appeared at the front of the room again and began loading information. It didn't look any different than it had before.

"I see you are attempting to take over the Patriots. May I help?"

"By all means, please do! See if you can have it done within an hour."

"The odds of that are astronomical."

"Excuse me? This little girl cracked you in less than a day and you're telling me you can't find the Patriots?"

"Allow me to produce them out of nothing for you." Nanami said. "The girl knew where to look. I do not."

"How does one know where to look when it comes to encryption?" Big Boss asked.

"It would appear that the girl is exceptionally skilled in the art of cryptography. So skilled, in fact, that I do not believe there is a standard to measure her level of expertise with. Give me a lead and we shall see what happens."

Big Boss leaned in to speak with Sunny privately.

"Keep a close eye on this thing, okay?" Big Boss requested, to which Sunny nodded.

"Hey, does this mean we still have to go to that base?" Meryl asked.

**X**

Acquiring a weapon that would prove to be very effective against the Gekko's and all other miniature Metal Gear variants for the next six months or so until they finally rolled out the new models which could deal with the abuse was a very important thing for them to do. Chaff grenades were getting difficult to buy. Nanami, the security team's new best friend, agreed wholeheartedly. Snake should have expected as much. He prepared himself for Outpost Two by getting acquainted with the Mark Two since it was supposed to do all the work for them.

Otacon had designed it to be manipulated with a wireless Playstation 3 controller. If needed, Otacon could override it and control it himself. So could Nanami, if they felt like giving up the controller to it. The Mark Two performed exactly how Otacon said it would, which was enough to convince Snake that it might be reliable. No piece of terrain was too tricky for it to navigate. The Mark Two could be customized to fit any need. To be sure it was sturdy and would remain balanced for the test run, Otacon had given it actual feet. Another set of legs that ended in wheels was available, which would give the unit speed at the sacrifice of balance. It had tentacles, which could be used to grab objects, shock people, or rape unsuspecting anime women.

To further sell Snake on the Mark Two, Otacon set it on its side and instructed Snake to hold down L1, R1, Start, and Select. It successfully got back on its feet. Snake put it through the same test ten different times in a variety of positions. The Mark Two did not falter. Even though he knew something would undoubtedly go wrong, he decided it was a fine device. It came with a few other features of varying use, but none of them would see it through a firefight. For the purpose of this mission, it could open doors and manipulate computers, which was enough for Snake.

Next came a round of injections with Naomi. Snake went in last and administered the shot himself while Naomi explained what the results of her nanomachine analysis had been on the new family. Jacob and Olga would experience accelerated aging. Sunny was not so synthetic that she wouldn't be able to develop a personality that hadn't been predetermined for her. Her love for computers and her ability to remain calm in extreme situations were due to the nanomachines floating around inside of her. Ocelot still had a moderate heart condition. Needless to say, the results had been better than they had expected. There wasn't too much to worry about.

When the evening was approaching and they still hadn't suited up and there didn't appear to be much activity outside, everyone began to wonder if the mission had been called off. It wasn't until Meryl finally asked that Big Boss told everyone they would need to take a snow day. Mantis was going over everyone, diving their brains and checking where their true loyalties were. There was one specific part of the psyche where this information resided, but getting there meant passing through a few personal barriers and Mantis had to be careful that he didn't emerge with a stain on his own personality.

Each session lasted thirty minutes to an hour. Mantis was hyped up on energy drinks and a nanomachine cocktail that kept him fairly alert. Having the mission postponed made everyone even more anxious about it. Meryl upped her exercise routine and wished there was a VR simulator somewhere on the base. She contended herself with beating the crap out of a couple of guards who had passed the Mantis test and practicing her aim on coconuts and fish. Raiden watched a lot of scary movies to dull his senses. Snake stayed with the security team as they became familiar with Nanami.

Introductions were terse. Big Boss designated himself as the leader of their outfit and had it read his horrible report. Modification of its code was restricted to Sunny and Otacon. A separate window was put up on the screen at the front of the room that displayed what processes it was running and what exactly it was doing. Solidus stared at it intently for the longest time.

"See something you like?" Snake asked.

"It's kind of like she's naked." Solidus replied.

"Wait a minute, did you say she?"

"Yeah." Solidus muttered. "It's got enough of a personality that you could almost call it human."

Try as it might, the AI couldn't pull up any additional information about the outpost. None of the computers were online and the research was top secret. Any data they hadn't already found would probably be sitting inside of the Patriots. While Snake wondered if it would indeed be more appropriate to refer to Nanami as a she rather than an it, a horrible bloodcurdling scream echoed through the mansion. Everyone rushed toward the source of the sound at once, making for several hilarious collisions. It had come from the room Mantis had set aside for himself.

Inside, Mantis was positively hysterical, waving his hands around in the air like he had just gone insane. A maid from Switzerland by the name of Charlotte was trying to hold him down, but Mantis broke away from her and shoved his way past everyone heading for the entrance, screaming at the top of his lungs as if he were trapped in an eternal nightmare. The maid looked positively ravaged and there was a familiar glint in her eye as she got to her feet with her fists clenched.

"Don't just stand there. Get him!" the woman ordered.

Needing no further explanation, the guards went to retrieve Mantis, who was stumbling over himself and breaking things as he fled in no particular direction. Snake and Big Boss were not so easily swayed.

"What's going on?" Snake demanded.

"I goofed. I got too far into this woman's mind. Now I'm her and she's me!" the maid exclaimed.

"I think Ocelot may still have some pills for that." Snake said.

"Idiot! This can't be solved with medicine. Mind over matter won't work either. This is completely different from Ocelot's problem. Don't worry, though. This has happened before. Three times, as a matter of fact. So long as I can get to my body in the next ten minutes, I'll be able to get back into my own body."

By the time they had rushed out of the room, Mantis was restrained and squirming around like a worm on a hook, still yelling like a lunatic. They had caught him in the living room.

"My memories are driving her nuts." Psycho Charlotte Mantis remarked. "I can't blame her. Keep holding me down."

The guards looked at each, shrugged, and held Mantis steady. Charlotte took the gas mask off of Mantis' face and placed it on her own. With a terrible degree of serenity, the she stretched her arms out as far as they could go and then allowed herself to fall flat on her back with a loud thud.

"Damn! It didn't work!" Charlotte hissed.

She stood back up and did the same thing, this time with an extra hop to lift herself off of the ground. Charlotte hit her head against the coffee table on the way down. Meryl and Snake looked at each other. Big Boss ordered a drink. Mantis went rigid and stopped howling at the moon. He jerked a couple of times before relaxing completely in the grips of the League of Five.

"Okay. Let me go." Mantis ordered.

The guards obliged and Mantis scrambled over to Charlotte on his hands and knees. He removed the gas mask from her face and put it back on his own. Mantis examined her for a moment. She was still breathing and it didn't look like Mantis had cracked her skull open when he was controlling her. Charlotte's eyes were wide open and staring ahead at nothing, but there didn't appear to be any life in them at all.

_She's__ dead. _Snake heard in his mind.

"Take her away." Mantis instructed the guards. "She'll come around in an hour or so."

_I have absorbed her soul. There is nothing that can be done to reverse this process. _Mantis explained to Snake.

Snake furrowed his eyebrows and tried to think as loud as he could.

_You offered dives as a service at your clinic when you were aware that this could happen? _Snake thought.

_That's why health insurance didn't cover it and I required people to sign a waiver._

_ This is no time for jokes. That girl is dead because of you._

Mantis flinched.

_I know._

_ Well, what happened?_

_ I'm not sure. One minute I'm dabbling around in her mind and the next I'm being filled with all of her memories. I couldn't get away before I was corrupted._

Snake remembered how Mantis had offered to help him sort through his past by diving him. He shuddered at the thought of becoming a vegetable if Mantis messed up.

_So there's nothing we can do to save her?_

_ That's right. If it's any consolation, I can feel her floating around inside of me._

_ How is that a consolation? It's downright creepy as hell is what it is._

_ I meant that she still exists. I'll have to purge her before I can do another dive._

_ Big Boss is not going to be happy about this._

_ I know. I'm on a three-way with you and him right now._

"Sounds hot." Big Boss remarked out loud as he took a drink from a rather fancy glass full of whiskey. "How many people are left?"

"Ten, I think." Mantis said. "So far nobody has any second thoughts about being here."

"I figured. Don't you ever get inside my head again." Big Boss said. "What happens next? Do you start liking the color pink and thinking seriously about boys? That would be a fitting punishment."

"Not if I purge her." Mantis said.

"Mantis, this is not a happy talk." Big Boss said suddenly. "I am extremely upset. In fact, the only reason I'm not putting the angle of your nose off by ten degrees is because I know that sacrifices are necessary. As much as I would love to have it otherwise, it is the nature of the beast. At the very least, we can take away the fact that there isn't a mole within our ranks."

"Not yet, at any rate." Mantis said. "Listen. If you want me on the mission to that abandoned base, I'm going to need a full days rest once all this is finished."

"Fine. Just try not to kill anyone else."

**NEXT TIME :** There's a lot more going on at Outpost Two than survival horror. Will the Mark Two work? Of course not. Meryl learns a thing or two about possession. A nefarious mechanical monstrosity is discovered.


	7. Trick or Treat

**Chapter 7 : Trick or Treat.**

Mantis had not managed to find any traitors in their midst. They were free to continue their campaign. Charlotte was given a lethal injection and buried out back by Mantis in the middle of the night. It was a fairly depressing job. A feeling of dread began to set in once Snake was bound for Antarctica. A few detours were necessary to get there. On this mission he would be accompanied by Raiden, Mantis, Meryl, and Solidus. Snake wasn't too thrilled to be joined by his most disgruntled relative, but since he was good with blades Big Boss had elected to assign him to the mission. Big Boss had a feeling that swords would come in handy, which rang through Snake's head as clear as day when he suited up for the helicopter ride to the base.

The very latest in OctoCamo had been given to them. Their body armor and backpacks had sensors in them that could detect what pattern the jumpsuit underneath had taken without sacrificing their ability to stop a bullet. They were made of the same synthetic material that the jumpsuit was. Now OctoCamo was possible for every single piece of equipment a soldier carried. It had all sold out on its first day of release. Big Boss made sure of that. He even put the company in a queue so the Patriots wouldn't be able to get the technology for their own soldiers for a little while.

Snake wondered how far his H&K G36C would get him. He also carried the irreplaceable M1911 and a silly little knife. Aside from their swords, Raiden and Solidus also carried the G36C. Mantis had an M249 while Meryl carried a Benelli M4. They were all given Solid Goggles, which would help them identify each other as the OctoCamo did its magic. Heavier weapons were available in a large container should they need them.

Two other helicopters were following them. Both contained an assortment of handpicked soldiers from Nighthawk, which included Chill Penguin and Anna. If something happened to Snake's team, they would come in and fix the problem. Unfortunately, Big Boss had neglected to consider that if Snake couldn't do it, they were probably out of luck. To downplay the gravity of the situation, they were currently having a good conversation about nothing in particular. Raiden was getting along with Solidus a little better. They had both come to the conclusion that their fight to the death was prearranged against their will. Solidus wasn't too bad once they got him going, but he was still a dick at heart.

When the base came into view, they all fell silent. They didn't even have a map of the place. If all they needed to do was run in and grab a weapon, then they could be out in less than ten minutes and possibly avoid whatever had happened to the last group of soldiers after they loitered around uselessly for five additional minutes. The clouds above siphoned off the daylight available. The outpost still had power, which was evident by the blinking markers. Their helicopter touched down on the heliport while the other two found some level ground to land on. The back popped open and Snake picked up the Mark Two. Even though they only needed to set the thing down outside, his entire team was on their feet and covering him. Snake set the robot down on the snow and took the Playstation controller out of his bag. He pushed the power button and the Mark Two was given life.

The stats of the device were displayed across his Solid Goggles. Snake went back into the helicopter accompanied by his enthusiastic teammates.

"Is everyone ready?" Snake asked through the CODEC.

"Yes. Let's see how this goes." Otacon replied.

"Tsun Tsun Dere Dere!" Chill Penguin said.

"Be quiet." Nanami ordered.

The Mark Two walked away from the heliport and headed right for the front door. It had no trouble getting there and breached the facility without much effort. The entrance was as quiet and cold as a tomb. Noise filtered through the Mark Two and was fed through the CODEC. The only thing Snake could hear was the sound of the howling wind outside. Raiden and Solidus kept their guns ready and aimed at the entrance, expecting anything to happen. Snake activated the Mark Two's flashlight and discovered he was in a lobby. Chairs, old magazines, and a few dead plants added some normality to the outpost, but the security desk to the right assured whoever was visiting that if they had no business there they might disappear into the wilderness.

Bulletproof glass and a door locked from the inside secured the soldiers who obviously kept watch on whomever was coming in and out of the base. There was only the one entrance and the base did not have any windows. A fingerprint scanner and a keypad blocked the door leading further into the compound. Otacon took over and bypassed both devices by shorting them out with an EMP blast. A sharp beep cut through the silence and the door slid open. Snake braced himself for what lay ahead, but his expectations were not met. The previous group of suckers should have been right there. Some evidence of their demise should have been present, but there was nothing in the icy hallway but shadows. The Mark Two unexpectedly tipped over. Snake frowned as he tried to discount the fact that it had actually been pushed over by something unseen, but he was unable to convince himself of any other possibility. He easily got the robot back on its feet and continued forward.

The corridor he was in provided some direction due to the labels painted on the wall. If he went to the left, he would find himself in the labs. Should Snake decide to go forward, he would arrive in the living quarters. Supplies and whatnot were to the right. Snake guided the Mark Two to the labs. Another security door stood in their way. This one required a badge and a fingerprint scan. Otacon fried the device, allowing them to move forward. Snake thought he saw a shadowy figure at the end of the hall. When he rubbed at his eyes, it was no longer there. Something was definitely wrong.

He could no longer move the Mark Two forward. A buzzing noise emitted from somewhere within the robot and the battery meter dropped off to zero. The screen went dark. Their scout was dead. Snake sighed in disgust and put the controller in one of his packs.

"What in the world?" Otacon said through the CODEC. "That battery is designed to last for three entire days and it had a fresh charge!"

"Maybe it was defective?" Raiden offered.

"Forget about it, Raiden. It's playing with us." Snake said. "You all saw that figure standing at the end of the hall, right?"

"I pretended not to." Solidus admitted.

"What figure?" Meryl asked with a wink.

"Snake, you're up." Big Boss said. "Take a few minutes if you need to."

Snake flicked the safety off of his G36C. He grabbed a flashlight and clipped it to the end of his gun. Snake didn't need to tell anyone else to do so. He checked to make sure his FOXDIE suppressors were ready to be grabbed and headed outside. Meryl tripped on her way out and face planted into the snow. Mantis helped her back up.

"This sucks." Solidus said in disgust.

"Mantis, did you do your remote viewing thing?"

"Yeah, while Snake was playing with his new toy. I couldn't even get through the front door. Whatever is in there wouldn't let me. I'll be about as useful as any of you once we get in there."

"I'll take your dog tags in advance, if you want." Solidus offered.

"Shut up. We're all getting out of this alive." Snake said firmly. "Set your OctoCamo to manual and select the urban pattern."

They did as they were told with the help of their smart phones.

"Hey, wait a second. What's this Raiden Camo Pattern?" Solidus asked.

Raiden held his breath while Solidus selected the pattern. His suit became hot pink with streams of violet, purple, and red coursing through various areas in a straight line.

"Is this for a fetish?" Solidus asked incredulously as he looked at himself.

"Where did you make your own camo pattern?" Mantis asked, clearly interested.

"It's under the options menu. I forgot to turn off sharing. That's why all of you have it." Raiden said as he examined his phone.

"Get serious!" Snake demanded.

"Fine, Grumpy Gary." Solidus mocked. "You weren't like this the last time you were in command of a squad. What's wrong with you?"

"This is why I always work alone. Solidus, this is a lot more dire than kidnapping a child. We're going to go in, replace the battery, and get out."Snake explained.

It sounded like a good plan. Snake walked right through the front door without hesitation, which caused his comrades to stop for a moment and admire his disregard for personal safety. The door must have been airtight because the second it closed on them all they could hear was the sound of their own breathing in addition to the howl of the wind outside. Snake noted that the Solid Goggles mapped and saved the layout of the room they were in. It was the least it could do.

"Keep your lights on. If we have to be careful of the shadows, it's not going to do us much good if we walk around using night vision." Snake whispered.

All of their lights came on. His teammates kept the line tight as they made their way to the Mark Two. It was sitting where they left it. Snake went to work on the robot with the tools he'd been supplied with. He stuck his knife in a little slot and popped off the plastic guard. The door they had just gone through inexplicably closed shut.

"You wanna take care of that?" Snake whispered.

Solidus and Raiden began trying to trip the sensor for the door. This shouldn't have been a problem, but the door refused to open. Snake grabbed the ribbon wrapped around the battery and pulled out the case it rested in. He pocketed the old battery and slid in the new one.

_In my mystery. . ._

"Mantis, I have told you a thousand times not to do that." Snake said.

"I didn't say anything." Mantis said. "Cross my heart and hope to. . .pound a porn star."

He bit his tongue, trying to erase the residue the word die still left even though he had not said it. Before Snake could power the Mark Two back up, something wrapped around his leg and pulled him into the darkness. Snake flipped around and began firing blindly at whatever had him with his M1911, but it didn't let him go. Mantis pointed his light toward Snake. When the beam hit him, Snake felt whatever had him let go. He positioned himself so that his back took the entire blow when he slammed painfully into the wall. Snake shook his head for a moment and then noticed something ahead of him that the light barely outlined. The head and right arm of a soldier were sticking out of the wall. His face was in a twisted mask of horror and he had obviously died of fright. Snake watched as something pulled the corpse into the wall. It was a great trick.

Snake scrambled to his feet and rushed back to his team.

"Form a circle!" Snake ordered.

They did as they were told. Snake tried to turn on the Mark Two. Since pushing the power button did nothing for its libido, the Mark Two was not pulled from its slumber. It remained immobile and inoperable, waiting to be given a suitable battery to draw power from.

"Otacon, what's going on?" Snake demanded.

There was no answer. Snake pulled out his smart phone and discovered that its battery had also died.

"Snake, whatever we're dealing with here can disrupt electronics." Mantis explained.

"I wish I would have brought my banana stickers." Meryl said sarcastically. "You'll have to settle for this."

Meryl blew him a kiss. Mantis caught it and put it on his cheek.

"Ghosts and spirits have the power to do this." Mantis continued, unperturbed. "At this rate, it will be useless to try and get on a computer. We are going to have to find the source of the disturbance and get rid of it."

"Hey, if it can disrupt electronics how come the heater and our goggles are. . ." Solidus said.

Meryl slammed her hand up against his mouth and shushed him violently.

"It's selective!" she hissed.

"And stupid." Solidus said, his voice muffled through her fingers.

"Does this mean we're going to perform an exorcism?" Raiden asked.

"We've got company." Mantis announced.

They broke the circle for a moment and looked where Mantis had his light and saw a little girl in a tattered white dress standing at the end of the hall. Her black hair was covering her face and her arms were freakishly long as she stood slumped forward, twitching sporadically. When she knew she had their attention, she turned and faced Snake. Nobody fired a shot. For a moment, they believed she might be a victim of whatever had started the mess. She moved so fast that they could only trace her afterimages. By the time she reached Snake, she had grown two feet taller than him and her physical appearance had changed dramatically.

She had become a grotesque creature. Her dress was torn open, exposing a ravaged body underneath covered in weeping wounds and her mouth was open in a silent scream. Somehow she had become brighter while her hair had gotten much darker. Snake was temporarily paralyzed in terror as he looked into her white eyes that threatened to steal his soul. The thing hugged Snake and began shaking him back and forth. Snake tried to break free from the grip of death, but he found himself overpowered.

"What the hell?" Raiden asked. "What is it doing?"

"It's hugging him to death!" Mantis yelled.

"You idiot, it's trying to break his neck!" Meryl shouted.

"Shouldn't she be grabbing his throat for that?" Solidus asked.

It looked at Solidus for a moment before wrapping its hands around Snake's throat and shaking him violently. Snake's skull bounced back and forth like a bobble head. Meryl put a load of buckshot in its face. One shell was all it took to knock the thing off of Snake. Meryl tried to catch Snake as he fell to the ground, but she misjudged how much he was going to weigh and he fell on top of her in a very unromantic fashion. Solidus kept his gun aimed at the thing while he examined it. He kicked the beast in the side to roll it over. If there was one thing he could be certain of, it wasn't a spooky ghost. This thing was as real as it could get. Meryl squirmed out from under Snake and helped him get back on his feet.

"This looks like something out of a Gammell drawing." Solidus said.

He looked away from the creature for one second to address Snake, but when his eyes returned to where the body was supposed to be it had vanished. There wasn't even any blood on the ground. The door to the living quarters opened up. A shadowy figure slowly materialized in the corridor, unaffected by their flashlights. The thirty bullets they put through it didn't do any good, either.

_This way._

Everyone looked at Mantis, who shook his head in denial and pointed at the specter, placing all of the blame on it.

_This way._

"You can't be serious." Meryl said.

_Sometime today, damn it!_

Snake cautiously began advancing toward the specter, dragging his unwilling companions along with him as if their fate were bound to him by a chain. The shadow of infinite blackness lead them to the quarters of a particular resident of the base. It went through the door ahead of them. While clearing the room they discovered a corpse hanging from the ceiling by a rope in the closet. It had deteriorated into a skeleton and was wearing a lab coat with a fruity tie. A cassette tape was still clutched in its hand. Raiden knew they would demand he do it anyway, so he stepped forward and carefully removed the tape from the skeletons death grip. An old data recorder was on a nearby desk. Aside from that, the room was void of any personal decorations. The former resident must not have cared enough to make the room his own.

Raiden took a head cleaning cassette out of the data recorder and slid the tape in. He pressed play and the device stopped with a loud click.

"Are you serious? Do we have to look for batteries?" Meryl groaned.

"No, Raiden is just an idiot and put the damn thing in the wrong way. Try the other side, genius." Solidus coaxed.

"Way ahead of you, dildo."

Raiden flipped the tape over and pressed play.

"This is the audio log of Kurt MacReady, lead researcher on Project Two. If anyone finds this, I can only hope they will destroy the device that we have created. In accordance with our purpose here, we have developed a machine that attracts and intensifies spiritual activity to disrupt soldiers on the battlefield. It is extremely dangerous. To make a long story short, the other side seems to be composed of various layers and while navigating through them we disturbed something a lot more malevolent than a simple ghost. Before the computers went out, I received an E-Mail informing me that the project has been canned. They decided it was impractical and have allocated funding elsewhere. Meanwhile, our neighbors have made short work of us. The device is. . ."

They had no chance to hear the end. A red ball flew into the room and lingered above them. An unseen force stopped the tape and tore it out of the player. It unraveled the ribbon from the cassette and wrapped it around Raiden's throat. The tape was no substitute for fiber wire and easily broke when Raiden brought his knife around and cut through it. He nicked his cheek while doing so. A sharp snap got their attention on the skeleton in front of them, which fell to the ground as the rope suspending it in the air broke. The ball plunged itself into the skeleton, which gave it life. A red gleam appeared in the sockets where the eyes had once been. The skeleton stood up quicker than it should have been able to and uttered a dry hiss at them. Meryl blew it apart with her shotgun. The chamber became quiet once more.

"Make no bones about it." Snake muttered.

"David!" Meryl said in disgust.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself. Let's search the room. He said he was a lead so he might have something we could possibly use."

A large metal trashcan was in the corner. Snake found a lighter and a bottle of kerosene next to it. MacReady had burned a large amount of documents in the trash can. Nothing but ashes remained. Solidus investigated a file cabinet in the corner and found nothing but empty folders. Mantis found a discarded revolver. All six shots had been spent. He tried to dive the room for memories, but his power was still being blocked. Raiden found a couple of stray papers in the desk. Before he even thought of bringing attention to them, he gave them a good look. One was the E-Mail they had just heard about, which didn't reveal anything they hadn't already learned from the tape.

His other discovery was a useless memo about someone who was cheating at poker. Meryl flipped over the tattered skeleton and checked the pockets of the coat and pulled out an ID card. She noticed a red glow appear underneath the coat and backed away in fright. The red ball from before burst free of the clothing and flew directly into Meryl's chest. Her sharp gasp caught the attention of her comrades, but by then it was too late. Meryl's eyes glazed over red and the grin she gave them would linger in their nightmares forever. She brought around the shotgun and aimed it at her friends. Her body blocked the exit, which ensured that she could easily kill a few of them before the others overpowered her.

The shadowy figure that was following them around leapt out of a wall and entered Meryl's body. She fell forward as she pulled the trigger, shooting the ground in front of her. Raiden stepped in and took her weapon away as the two forces within her fought for dominance. Meryl was grabbing at her throat and shaking like she was having a seizure. Foam was spitting out of her mouth and her eyes had rolled into the back of her skull. She was brought to her feet as if she were a puppet and began to choke. Meryl punched herself as hard as she could in the stomach, trying to retch something up. She collapsed to her knees and fell on her side, still choking. Her face had begun to turn purple.

Snake performed the Heimlich Maneuver on her and a red ball came shooting forth from her mouth. It bounced off the ceiling, covered in spit, and flew straight at Mantis, who dodged, lost his balance, and fell over on his rear. The ball continued to bounce off of the walls for a moment before it lost momentum and rolled to a stop on the floor. It had lost most of its color. The shadow jumped out of Meryl's body and lunged for the ball, which leapt back into the air and ran away with the shadow following closely behind.

"Now. . .now I know how Ocelot felt when Liquid possessed him." Meryl said hoarsely. She managed to grin. "He deserved every second of it."

Raiden caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye and instinctively rolled to the other side of the room just in time to avoid having himself caught in the grasp of some bizarre creature. An arm lined with muscles and eyes emerged out of the wall while the hand attached to it grasped madly at the where Raiden's head had been a moment ago. The nails on the ends of the fingers were so sharp that they were tearing at the concrete wall. Raiden blew the limb off with the shotgun he had stolen.

It continued crawling towards him. Solidus intercepted it and cut the arm in half. The hand continued onward. It began crawling up Raiden's leg. He yanked it off and threw it away from himself. Raiden shot it with his shotgun as it sailed through the air, blowing it apart.

"Okay, this is getting out of hand." Solidus said. "We have got to get going!"

Everyone nodded. Raiden gave Meryl her shotgun back and she began reloading it. The team sprang back into action, hurrying as fast as their legs could carry them to where the research was conducted.

"We're going to have to check the rooms one by one. You know that, right?" Raiden asked.

"What?" Snake asked in a dumb tone. "Who? I want ice cream. Who has ice cream for Snakie?"

Meryl laughed at that.

"Yeah, this guy here hasn't ever snuck past a battalion of soldiers. He has no idea what he's doing." Solidus added.

"Anybody got a quarter? I wanna play Prisoner of War." Snake continued.

"I just want to be sure, damn it!" Raiden shouted. "That's how I keep my cool, all right? I am trying very hard not to freak out here and I think I've done a really good job so far! How have I been doing that? By taking the damn mission one step at a time!"

"You keep it up. We'll keep our cool by giving you a hard time." Solidus said.

"Too bad you two can't be nice and smooth like Mantis. You have to take it out on the rookie."

"Nice and smooth? Jack, I already pissed myself twice. I'm desperate for a new pair of undies." Mantis said.

They stood in front of the door that lead into the first research room. There were five to check, including this one. Each had to be fairly large since the doors leading into them were huge.

"Tear this room apart! Search it as quickly as you possibly can, keep the line tight, and don't panic no matter what happens!" Snake said.

He rammed into the electronic door and bounced back a few steps. Meryl ran the badge she had acquired across the scanner. It beeped. The door opened. Nobody said anything. They stormed the room. Something was being put together in this lab. A lot of mechanical parts were lying around and there was an assembly machine in the back hooked up to a computer that wasn't on. They traced the conveyor belt attached to the machine to the middle of the room where there was a large table. A tarp had been draped over what was resting on the table. Solidus yanked it off. What lay before them vaguely resembled a saber tooth tiger, only it was a lot more ferocious and substantially larger.

"David, it's a Metal Gear." Meryl said, her voice coated over in worry.

"What?" Snake asked.

Meryl aimed her beam at its hip while the others continued searching the room. Sure enough, Metal Gear was stamped clear as day on the hip. Beneath that was the word Kitty, which was obviously the name of the mech. Snake immediately understood the purpose of this thing. It was designed to strike fear into its enemies. The head of the Kitty was pretty ferocious and it seemed capable of eating people. Its feet were tipped with very sharp black claws. He couldn't tell what was used to construct the body, but it looked like what the legs of the Gekko's were made out of and it felt very powerful. The tail was elastic and had been coated with many teeth and grooves that made it function like a whip. If someone got hit by it, they would likely lose their leg.

Snake could not locate any weapons, but he found some places on the armor that were capable of sliding away and assumed that the weapons were underneath its body. It would only resort to them if it were in peril.

"I wonder if it moo's." Snake said aloud.

"That is so stupid." Meryl said. "I hate to say it, but whoever designed this thing deserves a promotion."

"In any case, what we're looking for isn't in here." Snake said. "Let's move on."

**NEXT TIME : **If foreshadowing has taught us anything, it's easy to predict what happens next. Before that occurs, the team must deal with some visitors from the other side and the infernal machine that makes their presence possible. That may sound somewhat familiar. How embarrassing.


	8. Nyan

**Chapter 8 : Nyan.**

Given how quickly the attacks from the other side had been coming, they were a bit overdue for a new experience. Unable to do anything to prevent against it, they forged ahead with an extra degree of caution. In the next lab they found two platforms placed at opposite ends of the room. One was labeled shipping while the other was marked as receiving. Clearly they were experimenting with teleportation here, which wasn't anything new. Normally this would be the source of a dimensional rift that would cause demons and such to pour forth from the hole created by some scientific malfunction, but that did not appear to be the case here. It didn't look like they were having any luck with their project. Mantis found a notebook full of rejected adjustments and failed transfers.

They weren't ready to test it out on live animals yet and had been instead conducting their exercises with the help of a bunch of cardboard boxes. None had gotten to the other side quite yet and the room was full of silent candidates. Snake took a good look at one but Meryl quickly put a hand on his shoulders and shook her head, clearly seeing that he intended to take one with him. They must have been in the middle of a session when everything went bad. The adjustments were made via an interface that was currently not on. It was manipulated by touch. If they had gone that far, they were probably on to something. Or at least they thought they were.

"Do you think that fat people would get the shaft on these?" Solidus asked. "Like they would say that it took more power to transfer that much ass?"

"You mean mass?" Raiden replied.

"Yes, Jack, that's the joke." Solidus explained.

Raiden's frown was so powerful that it aged his face by six months. They advanced cautiously into the next room where they found something extremely interesting. Snake approached the glass display case. On the right was a small ecosystem. The soil looked incredibly fertile. A variety of small animals and insects were wandering around in the dark, living quite well given the circumstances. Buried underneath the soil but visible to those on the other side of the glass was a large green rod. A container was hooked up to the side that provided the animals with water.

To the left was a display case that had been filled with arid soil. The soil around the rod was beginning to change into a robust brown color. Small stickers marking the placement of certain seeds were taped over the display case.

"This looks like terraformation." Mantis said.

"The plants must be getting all of their nutrients from whatever this thing is." Snake replied, pointing at the rod.

"Yeah, you know what else? We get air by breathing it in." Solidus mocked.

The plants and animals looked a little different than what they expected. This was probably due to whatever was causing such growth without the aid of water, which Snake would not have believed unless he saw it himself.

"I guess this place looked into a little more than fear." Meryl said.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoing in the hallway brought their attention back to what they were trying to find. Their unseen visitor stopped at the other side of the door, which began to bulge near the bottom as something tried to kick it in. Whatever it was, it had to be huge. Mantis and Meryl were ready to fire. Solidus took a look at his G36C and decided he'd try his luck with it before he switched to his swords. The door continued acquiring new imprints until it was finally kicked down. Nothing was standing in the hallway. Snake's heart was beating so hard that he could hear it through his ears in the silence. Their new friend was clearly waiting for them, but nobody dared to move.

Suddenly something black flew into the room with a hideous screech. Meryl was the first to fire. It veered off its course toward them and slammed into the display. The glass didn't even crack, but the inhabitants freaked out. By the sound the creature was making, it was clearly wishing it hadn't underestimated its prey. Wounded, it stood up on its hind legs and cried out with an ear splitting scream. The force with which all their bullets hit the creature knocked it into the wall where it curled up into a heap and died. They reloaded. It might have been a gargoyle or something, but they had so thoroughly destroyed it within less than a minute that it was impossible to tell.

More screams echoed through the hallway. Its friends had arrived. The team braced themselves as five of the same aerial monsters entered the room. Solidus immediately cracked one of the high intensity glow sticks he had and dropped it to the floor, illuminating the room in an eerie yellow light. He switched to his katana. Mantis managed to kill one of them as it entered the room. Snake shot at the one coming for him, missed, and was relieved of his weapon when the thing snatched it away with its feet. The thing knocked him to the ground. Through the limited light he saw the face of his assailant. Eight beady eyes were near the top of the elongated skull. Two holes served as nostrils. It lacked hands, but its legs and feet were highly developed. The mouth of the creature took up most of its head and was lined with jagged yellow teeth. At the edge of its wings were two long spikes, which would undoubtedly be used to carve him up if he wasn't quick enough. It was the ugliest thing Snake had ever seen.

Its wings reared backwards, ready to stab Snake now that it had knocked him down. He got a grip on his combat knife and drove it straight into the neck of the beast, which awarded him with a gurgled scream. Snake threw it off of him and observed the situation before him. One was clawing at Mantis' head as he danced around in a circle and swatted vainly at the feet tearing at him. Snake took it out with his sidearm. Raiden was wrestling back and forth with the creature to try and get his gun back from it. Mantis raised his machine gun to shoot it, but Snake quickly put a hand on the barrel and lowered it, shaking his head. Both of them watched as Raiden fought to regain his G36C. Snake really wished he would have brought his camera with him.

Meanwhile, Solidus was circling what had to be the senior member of their group. It was a little bit larger than the others and not quite as hopelessly stupid, which was not enough to save it. When the monster finally did make its move, Solidus cut right through it without so much as a flinch from the spot he stood rooted to, spraying black blood all over himself and sending the two halves of the creature flying behind him. With the enemies dispatched, the team gathered around Raiden, who was still locked in fierce combat for the possession of the rifle. The beast looked around the room for a moment and saw the bodies of its dead friends. Knowing all was lost, it released the gun and attempted to retreat. Raiden put an entire clip into it. Snake gave him a pat on the back and a reassuring nod as he shook with fury and embarrassment.

That still hadn't been whatever was walking around out in the hallway, if there was anything right outside the door at all. Something wrapped around Raiden's leg and pulled him up into the air and dangled him from the ceiling. He yelled out in surprise, but was manly enough to refrain from screaming in horror. Raiden aimed his light at what had him and saw a thick black tentacle wrapped around his leg that seemed to be made out of the shadows. It had crept in through the door and made its way undetected along the floor until it had reached him. Solidus cut through the shadow, which did nothing but make him look foolish. Raiden took a deep breath and tried shooting at what had him, but nothing could harm the tentacle. The realization that this might be it hit Raiden hard and his body immediately went cold.

"Despite how mean you guys have always been to me, I've always respected each of you as my friends!" Raiden declared.

He began sniveling as tears streaked down his cheeks. His life flashed before his eyes. He could have done without that.

"Jack, shut up! You're not going to die!" Snake yelled.

"Yeah, stop acting like a pussy." Solidus mocked. "It's not like we can't make another one of you if you just so happen to die in a few minutes."

"Which, by the way, you won't." Meryl said.

"Hey, I want to be cremated and I _do not_ want to be cloned!" Raiden exclaimed. "Snake, remember that!

The tentacle pulled him out into the hallway.

"Tell Rose I love her and take care of my son!" Raiden screamed. "Oh, no!"

Everyone ran out into the hallway, determined to do whatever was necessary to save Raiden. Snake figured that this was a trap to get them to face what had kicked down the door, but nothing was in the hallway but dust and echoes. The door to one of the labs had been torn off of its hinges. A swirling cloud of blackness prevented them from seeing inside. This was what had grabbed Raiden, but it did not react to those coming to his rescue. Their flashlights could not penetrate through the darkness. Solidus broke out another glow stick and threw it into the room to no avail. As a man who often sat in front of the refrigerator expecting to find something good when he knew there wasn't anything in it that he wanted to eat, Solidus was compelled to throw another glow stick into the inky blackness to try and see if it would do anything. It did do something. It caused him to waste another glow stick.

Snake hesitated for a moment, but found motivation in the fact that Raiden's life was in danger.

"Wait here." Snake said to his teammates.

He charged headlong into the room. The darkness swallowed him up. An icy coldness enveloped him as he moved through the shadows. It took him more steps than necessary to cross over into the adjoining room. Snake had the unique sensation of moving to a different plane of reality as he ran forward through the swirling shadows. He broke free from the darkness and found himself on the other side of the barrier. The room was bare except for a stone altar and the infernal device that had started this mess sitting on top of it. It looked just like a radio. Two antennas were sticking out of it. Snake could see several dials and a couple of other controls available for adjusting frequencies and operating the devilish contraption. Dead air came out of the speakers, but he could feel something in the room with him. He spotted an emblem that gave the doohickey a name. Ouija.

"It's safe." Snake called.

His teammates joined him. Ouija's controls began adjusting themselves. A switch was flicked and one of the dials moved upward. Snake watched as a figure dressed in a black cloak appeared behind the Ouija. The cloak did not fit the beast very well and was torn in several places. It seemed to be wearing it out of respect for its visitors. By covering itself, it spared them of its horrific appearance. Their new enemy had a set of wings jutting from its back and no demon would be complete without a set of horns and a tail. This one was no exception. Snake could not see its face, but the body seemed to sustain the insects that were crawling in and out of it fairly well. Another dial twisted and they were treated to the screams of those that the beast had captured. The scientists and soldiers must have been trapped in their own personal hells by the sound of their unrelenting terror.

More buttons were pushed. It was humorous to hear Ouija work. Snake sensed movement behind him and he turned around to watch a part of the darkness in the doorway separate itself from the mass and creep along the wall. It slid onto the ceiling and remained there for a moment. Raiden suddenly dropped out of nothing, cocooned by the darkness. Only his head was visible and he was very much awake. His eyes stared ahead in immense horror. He was clearly in shock.

_Click, click, click._

The room was suddenly filled with the spirits of the damned. They were still wearing the outfits they'd been sporting the moment their souls were claimed. Their eyes had been removed and they were all outlined in a faint gray color because lively colors do not fit dead spirits. After the beast had established its dominance of the area, the spirits vanished and the screaming stopped. The whining present while searching for a station over the AM bandwidth was audible for a moment until a suitable frequency was located.

"I have your friend." the demon said through the radio.

Its voice was croaky and low as if had come out of the throat of a rotting corpse. Not that any of them had ever heard a corpse speak. If they had, it would sound like the demon. Should they ever come across another situation where this metaphor would be more appropriate, they would have a superb idea of how to relate to it.

"Is he really our friend?" Solidus asked, skeptical.

Meryl hit him. Hard. Snake flinched. She had a very wicked right hook. Solidus even looked surprised.

"Of course he is!" Meryl hissed.

"If you want him back, you will serve me." the demon demanded.

"Screw this crap, shoot that idiot!" Meryl exclaimed, helping them avoid the exchange of dialogue they always had before a big fight.

Solidus aimed at Raiden until he realized they were all trying to destroy the Ouija. None of the bullets struck their target. In fact, none of the bullets struck anything at all since they vanished into thin air.

"I have grown tired of this place." the demon continued. "You must free me. In return, I will spare your lives."

Even Snake couldn't restrain himself from snickering at the demon.

"Why can't you just carry that thing out of here yourself?" Mantis asked.

"It was designed so that I could not." it responded.

"Yet you can operate it." Mantis remarked. "I am appalled at how something so powerful could be made by a group of people so ignorant."

"I was surprised myself. They should have at least known that you're supposed to sprinkle salt around devices like these and say a useless protection prayer, but such is the stupidity of humans." the demon said. "What am I saying? Get me out of here. If you don't, you're all going to die down here. Horribly."

An idea sprung inside of Snake's mind.

"Fine. Free our friend first. We can take you back to the mainland with us. Do we have a deal?"

"Only the best kind."

Raiden was dropped to the ground on his back. Mantis retrieved him. Meryl gave Snake a doubtful look, but the glimmer in his eyes provided her with a degree of reassurance. Snake approached the device and picked it up off of the table without any problems. It was quite heavy and he needed to hold it in both of his hands. His next move might be his last and he tried to keep his mind as clear as possible just in case the demon could read it. As he turned his back to the demon, he intentionally dropped the Ouija. It happened so fast that the spirit did not have any time to react. The Ouija hit the ground with a loud thud and something inside of it broke audibly.

The silence was deafening. Mantis had his fingers crossed. Meryl didn't even breath. Solidus could feel cold sweat trickling down his back. Snake was at peace with himself.

"Damn. I am such a butterfingers." Snake said, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

The demon wailed in fury at how gullible it had been. Snake shrugged as if he had nothing to do with the accident and began backing away from the demon.

"But it passed the drop test!" it bellowed.

"Well, it failed this one." Snake muttered.

Still screaming in immense rage, the demon ascended into the air. The room changed in front of everyone for a brief second. They were unable to pick out any details and they were grateful for that as whatever was on the other side didn't look like something they would be able to handle as readily. If they pondered too long on what they thought they had seen they would risk their sanity. Snake saw a darkened desolate landscape, a lot of dead bodies, and creatures he had to forget immediately or risk suffering nightmares for the rest of his life. This was clearly their hub to the human world. A blinding blue light suddenly erupted from the Ouija. The ghosts of those who had lost their lives from the device shot forth from it with an abundance of joyous fanfare and enthusiastic hollering.

Snake turned to face the demon, who had become transparent. It then lost its physical form and became a boring, featureless specter. The room seemed to be warping under the strain of losing that which gave the other world such a deadly degree of command. It became blurry and Snake knew it wasn't his eyes when he looked at his hands and noticed no distortion. The universe was collapsing in on itself. Snake took a look at the Ouija, which was still releasing a few spirits that hadn't gotten through the door before. The blue light had dimmed considerably. Snake took this opportunity to destroy the Ouija further with a three round burst from his rifle.

"Let's get out of here!" Snake yelled.

The darkness blocking the door was no longer swirling as if it had been flushed down a toilet. It now hung there like gas. They fled from the room and ran down the hallway before they turned back to see what was going on behind them. Mantis banged Raiden's head against the wall by accident when he turned and began smoothing out the wound. The darkness was still thick enough that they couldn't see through it. Suddenly the lights above them switched on as electricity was returned to the establishment. The darkness faded into nothing. A door leading into the lab now stood where the opening had been as if nothing had happened. The shadow that had helped them before appeared as if to remind them of its presence, observed them for a moment, and then disappeared.

_We do not belong in this world. Thank you for doing what I could not._

"You're welcome?" Meryl said.

Snake's CODEC began ringing. He didn't answer it for a few seconds. It was the only way he could get back at command on the field without botching the mission. The Mark Two, now free to operate without having to worry about being blocked by the spiritual energy, rounded the corner and ran over to them. Seeing that all was well, Mantis decided to get to work. He sat Raiden down and put both of his hands on his head. Raiden had not come out of his shock and would be that much more useless in his current condition if they were thrown into combat again. Mantis carefully began trying to bring him out of his shock by weeding out the source of his trauma. The two were motionless during this process.

"Snake! You're alive!" Otacon exclaimed, bypassing Snake's need to accept the call.

"Let's cut the gushing and finish this damn mission. I want to go home. Is everything okay on your end?"

"We're no longer experiencing any interference. All we have to do now is find the rail gun."

Snake carefully stepped by Mantis and entered the lab that contained the Ouija with the Tachikoma following him. The Ouija was still on the floor where he had dropped it, smashed to bits. He found a couple of broken bottles on the floor and upon further investigation of the room he happened upon a box full of glass containers filled with water capped with rosaries. Snake also found a container full of sage and a set of schematics. The holy water and the sage were undoubtedly preventative measures that hadn't done anything to stop the Ouija from spiraling out of control. While examining the schematics Snake discovered that one of the boards inside the Ouija that caused it to function was designed to reflect an actual Ouija board.

While Snake continued looking around, Otacon located a Dell that he was able to turn on with one of the Tachikoma's many tentacles. He used another to jack in and begin his hack.

"I'll put the information on the Tachikoma's hard drive. It will be a lot faster than downloading it to our system on the island. The rail gun is in lab five. They've got a prototype ready! I'll open everything from here. Go get that weapon."

"Fine." Snake mumbled.

"I'm detecting a hidden OS. The Patriots may still be here." Nanami said. "Using brute force against the password now."

Snake returned to the hallway for a moment to see how Mantis was doing just in time to see Raiden wake up as if he had slept very poorly. He was heavily disoriented. Mantis, on the other hand, had a look of pure terror on his face that he tried to hide by rubbing at his eyes. Whatever Mantis had seen, it was bad enough that he was actually shaking.

"Are you okay?" Snake asked Mantis.

"Yeah, don't worry about me." Mantis said brightly. "It wasn't that bad, I'm just not used to such things."

"What happened?" Raiden asked groggily. "I remember that the lights went out and after that everything is a blur."

"I'm going back to the helicopter." Mantis said as he pushed past Snake, leaving no room for an argument.

"Where are we?" Raiden asked.

"We're in the middle of a mission." Meryl said. "Come on, get back up on your feet. We could still be in danger, so snap out of it."

Raiden nodded and took the hand Meryl was offering him. She helped him stand up and gave him a pat on the back to let him know she cared. Snake stood in front of the door to lab five and waited for it to slide open. He entered with his gun forward, ever cautious of traps or unforeseen difficulties. There was as much junk and equipment in this particular room as there had been where the Kitty was made. A case on the wall secured the only working rail gun, which was as big as a machine gun. Snake opened the door without a problem and took the weapon. It was incredibly light. His fingers located the safety and he flicked it off. The gun beeped at him like something out of a science fiction novel and displayed the charge level of the current cell. It was very low. Snake didn't have the slightest idea how to use this thing, but he knew that wouldn't matter so long as he could pull the trigger. There was only one extra cell, which he pocketed.

"I think we've got what we came here for." Snake said over the CODEC.

"We're lucky. It looks like someone was in the process of securely erasing the entire hard drive. The documentation for the rail gun is all that's left." Sunny said.

"You mean we lost their notes on teleportation and terraformation?" Solidus asked.

"It would appear to be so." Nanami said. "We lost the Kitty as well."

"Damn it!"

"I hate to say this, but I don't think the rail gun is going to be an exclusive item of ours for very long." Otacon said.

"For all we've been through, I just hope it comes in handy more than once." Snake said.

"Allow me to present you with the opportunity to try and use it." Campbell said over the CODEC.

He sounded remarkably different. Vicious, in fact. He was clearly trying to belittle all of them, which was quite unlike the colonel they knew. Campbell lacked the verbal ability to do such a thing especially when they had so much shit on him. He wouldn't dare talk to them like he was now. Campbell had stepped out of line. Out of character, in fact.

And that could only mean one thing.

"Campbell?" Otacon asked, confused. "I thought you were in the kitchen."

"Otacon, that's not the colonel! Stop what you're doing now!" Snake shouted. "The Patriots know where we are!"

"Sunny! Hack the shit out that signal!" Solidus shouted over the radio.

"Solidus, not every sentence calls for a curse word." Meryl said.

"I-I-I'm already on it." Sunny assured them.

"Naomi should give you some nano's to fix that retarded stutter you have!" Crazy Colonel Campbell said.

"She's nervous, you bastard." Meryl said.

"Hah, I am not human, therefore I can not be a bastard! Your insult has lost its meaning and now you look like the stupid one, dummy face!" CCC retaliated.

A horrible roar came from the lab that contained Kitty. It blended the mechanical nature of the weapon with the ferocity of several different vocal samples from the feline family. Snake could swear he heard the sound of a male cat attempting to mate somewhere in the mix.

"I send you a spider, bitches!" Crazy Colonel Campbell shouted.

"We don't stand a chance against that thing in here! We've got to get outside!" Solidus exclaimed.

They ran as fast as their adrenaline would allow. Snake tensed up when he passed the door that contained Kitty. He expected it to come crashing down, but Kitty's approach was a lot more direct than that. Kitty had taken up temporary residence in the foyer. The Gekko was totally unimaginative when compared to Kitty, which moved like a real cat effortlessly. Its eyes were lit up in a shade of dark red while the tail moved from side to side in a deadly taunt. Kitty dared them to make the first move so it could show off.

Meryl was the first to strike with four shells from her shotgun. Kitty didn't even bother moving. No damage was left behind. Even the fine finishing on the metal hadn't been scratched. It was almost like they were trying to take down a tank with their current weapons. Whatever made up Kitty's body was a definite improvement on what the Gekko was composed of. This was the direction that those involved with the research and development of Metal Gear's should have been taking.

They needed much heavier weapons to take this thing down.

"A spider indeed." Snake said.

Raiden pulled out his sword and that seemed to get Kitty's attention. For the first time it regarded them as a mild threat. Kitty used its tail like a whip to lash out at Raiden. He countered the strike and jumped into the air, performing a perfect back flip while doing so. Raiden landed on the Kitty's broad shoulders and brought his katana down as hard as he could. The sword guaranteed to cut through anything pierced the armor with a great deal of effort. Snake motioned for the rest of his team to go outside while he stayed behind with Raiden.

The Kitty bucked fiercely and Raiden lost his grip on the katana, which had gotten stuck inside the armor. Raiden went flying across the room while the Kitty screamed in aggravation and tried to get the katana out of its back. Snake recovered Raiden and helped him out of the base while the Metal Gear clawed at the ground in frustration, tearing up great bits of concrete as it did so. Outside, everyone was ready to fight their new opponent.

The heavy weapons container had been raided. Chill Penguin was holding an RPG-7 and Solidus was getting ready to use a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle. Anna was helping a soldier who had identified himself as Trevor Callahan set up an M2 Browning. Meryl had ditched her shotgun in favor of an MGL. Snake knew that the Kitty was right behind him, ready to attack. It could crush him under its weight. He turned around to see how much distance was between them just in time to watch it pounce. On him. Its chest struck Snake his head, knocking him down to the ground in a daze.

"David!" Meryl screamed.

Raiden rolled away and laid motionless in the snow. Snake waited for the paws to land on his chest and push his lungs out through his back, but they did not. Kitty had merely wanted Snake underneath it as its feet landed to the side. The beast looked down at its prey and roared in victory while Snake inched away in vain on his back. Snake could usually control himself, but the look the thing gave him now that it had him where it wanted him almost paralyzed him. The fact that Raiden's katana was still jutting out of its back was morbidly amusing.

The only person with a clear shot was Solidus. Snake heard the familiar cough of the Barrett forcing a bullet out of its barrel. Solidus aimed for its hind leg, which looked less meaty than the rest of its muscular body. A very sharp crack was heard as the bullet made contact. The Kitty looked sharply in the direction the bullet had come from and roared. It sounded like a warning to back off. Snake took a look to see if the bullet had done anything. Only a dent remained where Solidus had fired, but there was something else. The dent was not perfectly concave. There was another layer of armor beneath the outer shell. This wasn't going to be easy.

While Snake wondered why a sword with a special diamond coating could go right through the Metal Gear with some effort but a .50 caliber bullet did next to nothing, the Kitty raised one paw high above its head. Snake watched the claws retract and knew that this would be the end. Before his head was knocked clean off of his shoulders, the Kitty's head began bobbing erratically. Its jaw went slack. The beast sat down on its hind legs and began licking its paws.

"G-get out of there, Snake!" Sunny urged. "T-the Kitty is being c-controlled by a c-computer on the base. I'm n-not sure how long I can r-remain in c-control."

Snake bolted out of the snow and ran from Kitty.

"You're pretty good, Sunny." Crazy Colonel commended. "But I'm better."

It snapped out of its stupor and roared in fury. That's all it seemed to do. Scream. Like a stupid woman. Snake had recovered Raiden and was now far enough away from the Kitty to warrant the use of explosives. Chill Penguin took aim with the ease of an expert and fired confidently. Flares immediately shot out of Kitty's back, which was a waste since the rocket was not seeking heat. Kitty dodged the rocket miraculously, which took out the entrance to Outpost Two in a moving display of combustion. Chill Penguin could hardly believe what she was seeing, which was a promising departure from her usual brand of stupidity. The target was less than fifty meters away. The rocket should not have missed. Undeterred, Chill Penguin loaded another rocket.

Kitty surveyed the scene in momentary confusion. In the complimentary instruction manual that would come with each batch of Kitty's purchased it clearly stated that Kitty was not meant to operate out in the open even with the equipment it had been given. The moment it did so, the manufacturers warranty was voided. It had been built to hunt and use stealth with extreme prejudice. If there were a pack of them, the situation would be different and clearly in their favor. The Kitty needed to gain the upper hand immediately for maximum efficiency. The longer it remained in combat, the weaker it became.

Trevor unleashed the fury of the M2 Browning on the Kitty. This actually knocked it off of its feet. While on the ground, the Kitty flicked its tail toward the weapon. A sharp barb went right through Trevor's face, killing him immediately. Blood splattered on Anna, who was right next to him. Chill Penguin's next shot didn't miss and after seeing what had just happened she immediately took cover in front of the helicopter rather than behind it as she readied another rocket. It was still moving, trying to stand back up. Meryl fired six grenades into the fray, taking cover inside the bay of the helicopter.

As she reloaded, they heard a nightmarish scream come from the Kitty. It jumped into the air and landed right in front of the helicopter containing Meryl and Solidus. Meryl fired a grenade inside its mouth as it opened to growl again and Solidus struck it square in the head with his sniper rifle before he began backing away. Mantis ran over to them. Using his powers, he began throwing snow up and around the Kitty to aggravate it. Since it was a temperamental thing, this worked relatively well. It's attention was now on Mantis, who was so damn frail that if the Kitty did so much as burp in his general direction he just might get murdered.

It was time to end this. Snake aimed the rail gun and pressed the trigger. The weapon beeped shrilly at him and refused to fire. Throughout all of this, the sword sticking out of the Kitty had not snapped in half. With all of his mental capacity, Mantis forced the sword through the Metal Gear and back to him. The Kitty shrieked in agony and collapsed to the ground as Mantis caught the sword. Blood as thick as oil began pouring out of the horizontal wound. Those nearby could see that some additional damage had been done to the Kitty. A huge dent had formed where the rocket had struck. The crater was cracked in the middle, exposing the second layer of armor, which looked like muscle tissue.

Bullets from the sniper rifle had caused injuries the size of scabs, but their weapons were doing some work. Ever since they had shot it in the head, it had begun to move around as if disoriented. Now it was severally injured thanks to Mantis. An entire section of the inner armor was exposed. As if Kitty had not already proven itself to be the successor of the Gekko, it showed them another trick. The dented armor actually began to heal, strengthening the bulky exterior against the weaker interior. How was a miracle of military engineering. Science fiction was the basis of modern idea's. The inner layer did not seem capable of this.

Snake was desperately trying to figure out how to reload the rail gun when the Kitty wrapped its tail around Mantis' sword and tore it free from his grasp. Solidus took out his sidearm and began shooting at the exposed inner layer. That caused an instant reaction. The Kitty released its hold on the sword and decided it would be best to run away and heal. Snake finally replaced the energy cell and cocked the rail gun. A whirring noise greeted him and the power count was at one hundred percent. He used the reflex sight on the rail gun to aim at the Kitty yet again just in time to watch it dodge another of Chill Penguin's rockets.

If anything, it had successfully managed to stall for time. A platoon of soldiers under the command of the Patriots were likely making their way over to them at this very moment. Snake pulled the trigger. The weapon did not fire immediately. Instead, it began building a charge. One dot appeared beneath the counter that displayed how much juice was left in the cell. Kitty was stumbling around, aware that it was close to death. Two dots appeared. It was such a large thing. Hopefully the rail gun would be enough. Three dots appeared. The weapon was at its maximum charge. Snake let go of the trigger.

A bolt of energy traveling too fast for the Kitty to dodge struck it in the side. It punched a hole through the Kitty. Furthermore, it seemed to have an EMP effect on the beast. Snake waited a moment to make sure that the Kitty was dead. It wasn't moving any longer, but Snake was fairly confident that its upper half could operate independently of its lower half. Twenty five percent of the cell had been depleted. Snake approached the Kitty and noticed that the Mark Two had come out of the base and was heading for one of the helicopters.

The light in the Kitty's eyes had gone out. He noticed that the outer armor was still trying to repair itself, which was morbidly humorous since there was no way the Kitty could recover from being split almost completely in half. For good measure, he shot it once in the head with another charge at the third level, obliterating everything but its bottom half. The rail gun certainly was a useful investment. For how long remained to be seen. Snake looked up at the sky as everyone else cheered in victory. There were no approaching jets and he didn't hear anything aside from the shouts of jubilation. Snake opened his CODEC.

"Boss, now that the Patriots know where we are, how are we going to make our escape?" Snake demanded.

"Damn it!" Big Boss shouted. "You're right!"

"W-what are w-we going to do?" Sunny asked.

"I know, it sucks! How are we going to get them out of there?" Boss replied.

There was a momentary pause on the line that was so great Snake had the surreal feeling of his life being temporarily suspended in time. Then Big Boss began laughing out loud so hard that Snake's eardrum popped.

"Boy, I got you good!" Big Boss exclaimed. "That's what you get for not trusting me like I keep asking you to do."

"Excuse us?" Meryl asked.

"Who do you think is coming? A PMC sponsored militia. If I send one of mine in to counter them, what does that make?"

"Terrorism?" Meryl asked.

"Wrong! It's a conflict of interests. War works different with PMC's. Had the actual United States military conveyed on you, then the situation would have been a little bit more complicated. These days they're just for show. As it stands now, this is more of an issue about money than it is an ideology. Besides, it doesn't look like anyone is coming after you. I think they're letting us go. Even if they weren't, I've got enough power in the area to keep you safe."

"What do you mean?" Snake asked.

"Come on! Jets, a submarine, that sort of thing. I told you to trust me. By the way, we're relocating to another island. Once we get settled in, we'll worry about what will follow." Big Boss said.

Snake took a long look at Outpost Two. He wandered over to Kitty where a small crowd had gathered to examine the remains. Raiden couldn't find his sword. Solidus grabbed a stray paw and found that he could manipulate it. He almost cut off three of his fingers when the claws retracted. With a smirk, Snake headed back for the helicopter. Everyone took this as an indication that it was time to leave and followed his lead.

**NEXT TIME : **Nanami proves how much its worth. An interesting box of treasure is discovered while the team waits for Big Boss to prepare his briefing.


	9. Treasure Island

**Chapter 9 : Treasure Island.**

After facing such insurmountable odds and coming out of the situation alive and unscathed, the quirky group of soldiers with an endless supply of luck were more than ready to take on the next phase of their conquest against the Patriots. The members of Nighthawk were not nearly as enthusiastic and found themselves hideously jealous of their superiors. They had lost a few men, which was a shame since life was worth so much. Being equally as skilled as the grunts with psychological problems, it didn't seem fair that they weren't personally able to handle the mission Big Boss had given them. They went home sulking and would not be participating in the next outing if they could help it, which they could not.

A very annoying amount of detours were in store for Snake's team once again. They couldn't just fly from Antarctica back to the island. At their first stop, they were instructed to hand the rail gun over to a separate group so it could be studied and mass produced. The Mark Two supplied Big Boss' trusted confederates with all the information they needed about the gun. If all went well, they could expect to have a couple of them within the month. Big Boss' secret R&R department was fairly large and impossible to trace back to him, much like everything he had command over. There were no restrictions on manufacturing the rail gun quite yet, which made it even easier.

Snake was glad he had brought a bag of goodies with him and he soon found himself sharing all of his gadgets with his friends after he had recovered them from the private jet Big Boss was so fond of using. The music on his iPod was a complete shock to everyone but Meryl. Eventually they found themselves stuck in Australia for two weeks while Big Boss kept them in the dark. He wouldn't answer his CODEC or respond to any of the calls they sent him. Big Boss did text them once a day at noon to let them know that he was still alive. There was nothing in the news through any source about a conflict in Antarctica. It looked like they were safe. They took the opportunity to go sightseeing and managed to have a lot of fun. Raiden would never be able to escape the pictures they took of him at the bar during their second night out.

Snake was their link to entertainment. As he held the highest rank in the military out of all of them, he possessed the most money. Some of them, namely Chill Penguin, were burning right through his cash as if it were nothing. When Snake sent Big Boss a text to complain about this, he found twenty thousand dollars added to his account. Perplexed at how easy that was, he sent Big Boss a duplicate of the same text and was gifted with enough money to earn a degree at an economically priced Fancy Paper Distributor, otherwise known as a college. When Big Boss finally had everything in order, he informed them that they would need to travel for an additional day until they could get to the airfield where he had arranged for his private jet to carry them away. It was Snake's responsibility to let everyone know that. He was the only one who had received the message.

He thought briefly of ditching some of them in Australia. What would Raiden and Chill Penguin do when they found they had been left behind, he wondered. Snake decided that was just too cruel. The entire team climbed aboard another private jet and headed to the new island, which Big Boss claimed was so much better than the first one. In fact, they should have set up camp on the new one to begin with. Snake had a sneaking suspicion that this was Big Boss' main reason for switching command centers. It was terribly vain of him. At least Australia had been fun a way to come down from the horrible experience they'd gone through to acquire the rail gun.

Sinbad's Hideaway was a baby island compared to the other three he owned. Their new location would be in La Costa Nuevo Buenas Noches, which would thereafter forever be shortened to Costa Neuvo. Big Boss apparently didn't like his chances on the mainland. Snake was sure he had a hideout somewhere in Europe, but they wouldn't be seeing it any time soon. If there weren't any interruptions, they would reach the new hideout in six hours. Snake couldn't wait. He pulled out the Kindle he had recently acquired and began reading. On the menu for this round of literature was World War Z, by Max Brooks. He became completely absorbed in the book and didn't even notice how those around him were passing the time through the flight, which was frightfully uneventful.

Raiden was still thumbing through Snake's iPod, completely boggled by the selection of music to be had. Mantis and Meryl spoke with each other. Whatever had happened to him when he had helped Raiden had passed. Solidus abused the bar and kept to himself. When the private island finally came into view, Snake was very impressed. This one was quite an upgrade. The land rose up into a mountain at one point and there were more places to explore due to the varied topography. It felt much more tropical here. The flat island had been nice and beautiful, but this island held more mystery. There were a lot more places to hide things, which made perfect sense.

As had been the procedure before, they were carted away in jeeps by a few familiar faces. All of Big Boss' hired hands had made the trip over and that included the League of Five, much to Snake's displeasure. The only road on the island led from the airstrip to the house and the dock just beyond the manor. Upon questioning the driver, Snake learned the island had not been fully explored yet. There were at least eighty acres to cover. By the gleam in Raiden's eye anyone could tell he fully intended to do the adventuring for them. Measures had been taken to enhance the security of the island in case someone decided to invade it on the other end. All that information was relayed into the command center, just as it had been before.

The size of the manor had not changed, but the style with which it was built most certainly had. Once inside, they found the house was fully furnished. There were no maids frantically arranging furniture this time around as it had already been taken care of. The mansion was cozy and the rooms were not so big that they felt alienated from them, which was a slight change from Sinbad's Hideaway. Perhaps it was due to how the decorations had been arranged. A maid led them to the overwhelmingly comfortable living room and went to fetch Big Boss. Another came out from the kitchen and served them a delicious fruity concoction she had affectionately named Ruulr Ziela. Even with all the languages Snake knew, he couldn't pinpoint where those words had originated from. They played around on the media center while Big Boss was absent and chose to watch Hot Tub Time Machine. Nobody bothered them after the maids made sure there was nothing more they could do for them.

"Hot Tub Time Machine?" Big Boss said in disgust.

Everybody jumped. He was standing behind one of the couches. Nobody had heard him sneak in. Big Boss noted their surprise with a bemused smirk.

"I've still got it." Big Boss said.

They continued watching their movie. Whatever Big Boss had to say, none of it would be important. He'd save what they really needed to know for the briefing, which undoubtedly would not be held until he got his presentation together.

"Listen, kids. We'll hold the briefing tonight. While you guys get to mess around, I've got to check on a couple of things. We've given Otacon so much caffeine over the past few days we're going to have to bleed it out of him, but thanks to his help we have managed to avoid being compromised by the Patriots. However, they will definitely know what our next move is going to be, so we have to be extra careful."

He didn't receive a response from any of them. Big Boss frowned.

"I can tell you're not really paying any attention to me, so I'll leave now."

Big Boss departed without another word.

"What did he say?" Mantis asked.

"Who cares?" Solidus muttered, still a little tipsy from all the alcohol he had consumed on the plane.

Raiden saw this as the perfect opportunity to begin his exodus of the island.

"So who wants to help me look for buried treasure?"

They snickered at him as if the idea was completely ludicrous. Raiden's determination did not falter. Even if they didn't go along with him, he would still make the journey himself. He truly believed they could find some buried treasure. Being the active type, he would rather go out and do something as opposed to sitting around and watching a movie. Even if it turned out to be a fool's errand, it would still get them outside.

"Raiden, the only pirate who was known to bury treasure was William Kidd. Literature helped popularize the myth that pirates would bury treasure." Meryl said.

"During the Great Depression people stuck money inside of jars and hid them on their land." Raiden reminded her.

She blinked.

"That's good enough for me." Solidus said. "Count me in. What about you, Snakie?"

"What's different about this island, Raiden? You didn't want to search the last one for treasure."

"The last one was boring!" Raiden said, waving his hand dismissively at Snake. "I've just got a feeling that if we wander around a bit we might find something special."

"Fine. I'll help."

"Me too." Mantis chimed in.

"I'll tag along so you all have something to stare at when you think I'm not looking." Meryl offered.

"Hey, it's bad luck to take a woman treasure hunting." Solidus complained. "Unless she's wearing a micro bikini."

"Come now, Solidus. Leave something to the imagination." Mantis said.

"I'll wear what I want to wear." Meryl said.

"And with that, our journey commences!" Raiden exclaimed, bolting from his chair to gather resources.

At least it was something to do. Nobody could see the harm in that. Before they set foot outside, they took great care in preparing for the journey. Snake was given some extra canteens by one of the guards that he promptly filled with fresh water. Some of those who agreed to go on the hunt chose to shower first and dressed appropriately for the excursion they would be undertaking. Meryl found a first aid kit and some other miscellaneous supplies that might come in handy. She packed all of them into a backpack the guards weren't using. She couldn't help but wonder about all of the extras Big Boss had lying around. If there were more this would be a good spot to hole up during an apocalypse if they could get to it. When they were ready to step outside, they needed to make sure Big Boss knew where they were going. He was hiding away in the command center. A maid needed to show them the way since it had changed.

Big Boss was at the head of the room looking at a map of the world and monitoring a few things while smoking a cigar. Otacon was absent from the room, but his desk could easily be identified by the figmas and nendoroids residing on it. Sunny worked next to him, typing away at a speed which was inhuman. Ocelot sat next to her and didn't seem to be engaged in what the others were doing. The three most powerful computers were given to those who knew how to handle them.

Campbell, Mei Ling, and Olga sat in front of them, doing their own special tasks. Jacob was on a computer all by himself in front of them, probably learning how to use Word if he were anything like Snake. Though Campbell and Jacob were far from experienced computer users, Otacon had given them simple tasks they easily followed. He trusted them more than he did the guards or Big Boss' maids. Though they were not often seen during the missions, they were playing a major role at home.

This command center looked a lot more cozy. Nanami was still housed in the supercomputer in the middle of the room. The cover was off, allowing for quick access and added ventilation. She had probably blown a gasket in her current home just as before. A bell chimed as they passed into the security center. Sunny spun around in her chair at their approach. Tears welled up in her eyes and she ran over to Snake and hugged his leg.

"I'm glad you're safe." Sunny said.

It was a moving scene that Snake didn't quite know how to react to.

"Thanks to you, kid." Snake said, patting her head affectionately.

"I almost couldn't manage to get in through the Metal Gear because of the barriers in place, but once I found the right virus, it was just like inserting a key into a lock."

"Yeah." Snake said, not having any idea at all what she was talking about. "You can't open a locked door without unlocking it first."

Solidus burst into a hysterical fit of laughter. Sunny didn't seem to mind. She released her hold on his leg, nodded reassuringly, and went back to her seat next to Otacon.

"Welcome to my lair." Big Boss announced. "I would have showed you jerks where it was before, but you were too busy for small talk."

He turned his back to them.

"And now I'm too busy for you. So ner ner ner." Big Boss teased.

"We just wanted to let you know that we're going treasure hunting." Raiden said. "If you need us, we'll have our phones."

Big Boss choked on the drink he was taking and laughed at them.

"Does anyone else want to go along?" Mantis asked.

"Hey, we have enough people already!" Solidus insisted. "Think of the shares, man!"

"We're all a bit busy here." Mei Ling said, a hint of nervousness in her tone.

"Take the kid with you. She needs a break." Big Boss said.

"Are you sure?" Sunny asked.

"Of course. You and Otacon have us as secure as the belt around the pants of a devote Catholic on his first date." Big Boss said with a wink. "I think you've earned your break."

They turned to leave when Big Boss suddenly shouted at them, bringing their attention back to him.

"Hold up a minute. Johnny!" Big Boss yelled.

Johnny came stumbling out from another room. He saluted his commanding officer and stood erect with attention.

"Get me the map to this island."

Eager to please, Johnny took a spare computer and poked around some of Big Boss' unrestricted documents. In less than a minute he had already printed out the map of the island. He grabbed the slip and was about to hand it to Snake when Big Boss stopped him. Johnny hesitated and then walked toward his superior and handed him the map. Big Boss took a look at the slip of paper for a moment and nodded. He gave it back to Johnny and waved at him dismissively. Johnny was then allowed to give the map to Snake. An aerial view of Costa Nuevo was on the laminated slip of paper. Points of interest were highlighted, but they wouldn't be helpful.

"Best of luck, guys!" Johnny said, looking mainly at Meryl when he did.

Meryl caught his eyes and looked at him curiously. He immediately shifted his gaze to Sunny.

"Great, we've got another one." Big Boss said as he thought of the Loli Monster.

"Can I have a gun?" Snake asked.

"In case you run into an angry seagull?" Big Boss asked with a chuckle.

Snake nodded. Big Boss whistled and one of his bodyguards handed his sidearm over to Snake along with three extra clips. With that, they bid farewell to the security team and made their way outside. The last thing they needed to get before they left was a set of shovels in the garage. Using two jeeps, they began their hunt. The first place they agreed to explore was a cave that was on the edge of the island. Stuff was always inside of a cave in the movies. This was perfectly logical. It was a bumpy ride. When they arrived, they parked the jeep on the beach and Meryl passed out some flashlights she had found. Snake wandered into the cave with everyone behind him. Inside, they were not surprised in the least to find the skeletal remains of an unfortunate individual.

"Make no. . ." Snake began to say.

"David!" Meryl warned.

He had set himself up to die in the corner. His possessions had barely survived the test of time. Among them were a useless sword, a compass, and a personal diary. Entries were made sparingly and in Spanish, which Snake had no trouble reading. The pencil their late companion had used had long since faded away almost completely, but Snake was able to pick out a few words here and there. Much to Raiden's delight, Snake could safely say that the man had been a pirate. How he had died was not clear. There was no evidence any of his bones had been broken and there was plenty of food available on the island so he had to have lived well until the fresh water ran out if that was what had killed him.

Mantis picked up the compass, which alone could fetch a nice price at an auction. It still worked. NE had been carved into the back. There went the resale value. After they sat around in a circle on the beach for a few moments and discussed the find while Sunny chased some crabs, they decided to follow the cryptic message as there were no better leads. Snake took a look at the map for a while and noticed the base of the small mountain was to the north east of their current position. On a hunch, he decided they should go there. Raiden went full speed ahead with Sunny at his side strapped down tight to her seat.

When they reached their destination they spent a great deal of time exploring the surrounding area. Raiden already had his shovel ready and was looking for an excuse to start digging. Eventually they stumbled into a clearing where a circle of eight stones had been made. There were eight stones in all and Mantis determined that they were not from the island originally. Somebody had placed them there. In the middle of the circle of stones was a large black pebble. Snake picked it up. Nothing happened. For some reason, he thought something should have. It was a very odd sensation and suddenly he couldn't stop thinking back to his fight with Shadow Raccoon.

Since the black pebble was also unique, Raiden believed that it was meant to mark the spot where he was supposed to begin digging. He did so without further comment. At first they were almost certain they would be doing the digging in turns, but Raiden's energy knew no bounds especially when there were secrets to be uncovered. He dug down three feet when his shovel struck something, which elicited a giggle that was at a higher pitch than he wanted.

Raiden had discovered a huge wrought iron chest. Solidus helped him out of the hole. Raiden joined hands with Sunny and began dancing around in a circle. Mantis volunteered to pull the chest out of the Earth himself. It took him a couple of minutes to pull the chest out from the ground with his psychic powers. By the time he had finished, Mantis looked quite exhausted. He popped five Motrins and was about to open the chest when Raiden pointed out that another one was down there. Mantis had already done enough so through a combination of teamwork they unearthed the second chest, which was no small feat, and set it down by the first one. In the first chest was an absolutely beautiful assortment of plundered booty. Among the treasures were a crown, a scepter, Aztec gold, and a few beautiful medallions. An assortment of coins buried more items. The chest had been stuffed full of valuable goodies.

The second chest contained a bunch of old bottles filled with liquid. Snake popped the cork of one of them and took a whiff. Rum. He could not say for certain how old the booze was, but it was very smooth. Snake had never tasted anything quite this old.

"How are we going to split this?" Solidus asked.

"This half is mine." Snake replied, patting the chest full of booze. "I don't care what else you guys take."

"Let's all take one thing we want have for ourselves." Raiden proposed. "After we sell everything else, we'll split it evenly."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Mantis pulled out a skull and examined it thoughtfully in a pose that could have come straight out of Hamlet. It was carved by an expert and no details were missing. The skull fit snugly in his hand.

"That's not crystal, is it?" Snake asked.

"No, it's not. It's diamond. With this in here, it will be difficult to place the age of our treasure." Mantis said, eying the skull suspiciously.

"That probably came from the Aztecs or maybe even Atlantis for all we know." Snake said. "Judging by everything else in here, I'd say it's all from the seventeenth century, but that's only a rough guess. Like you said, that skull really throws it off."

Mantis didn't respond. He was far too busy staring into the eyes of the diamond skull. Sunny waved her hand in front of his face and that broke him out of his trance. Mantis shook his head and cleared his throat.

"This is mine." Mantis said.

He resumed his staring contest with the skull.

"I like this." Raiden exclaimed, claiming the silver scepter that stretched the length of the chest as his own.

"You're breaking the order of the set." Solidus pointed out as he put on the crown, indicating that the scepter went with the crown.

Meryl took a rather ornate dagger in a sheath for herself. Sunny, in her innocence, became attracted to a large chunk of obsidian that had been carved into the shape of a sphere.

"I see. Now it makes sense." Mantis said almost to himself, caught in the gaze of the diamond skull.

"What's that?" Raiden asked as he began sparring with himself using the scepter as a bō.

"This is no ordinary skull." Mantis began. "The captain found it on a trail. It seemed as though it had been carelessly discarded. He thought to sell it at first, but the power of the skull got to him. Thinking that it was part of a curse and driven half mad by all that happened to him after he had acquired the skull, he buried it along with a huge cache of loot he'd recently stolen."

Solidus chuckled at that until he took a good look at the effect the skull had on Mantis. There was something quite unsettling about a skull made from diamonds. It looked like it weighed at least five pounds, which would place its value past two hundred and fifty million dollars. Never mind the fact that it would be an international sensation. Solidus cautiously moved in for a closer look, afraid he might disturb Mantis by doing so. Mantis remained transfixed on the immortal hypnotic gaze emitting from the two empty sockets. Solidus sincerely hoped whoever had carved this thing had used the leftovers for something as equally impressive.

"How do you know all that?" Sunny asked with great interest.

"This artifact seems to enhance my normal psychic abilities. It has an incredibly potent aura."

"Just make sure it doesn't drive you nuts." Solidus said. "We don't want to have to take away your new toy."

Snake's phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out. Big Boss was calling.

"The rest of our team is here. You might want to head back to the manor." Big Boss said. He then began chuckling. "Did you nincompoops find any treasure?"

"Yes, we did." Snake answered and he immediately wished he could take that back.

His friends shushed him harshly, clearly victims of the green eyed monster. Only Mantis remained aloof from the prospect of having to share the loot further and he was busy bearing his teeth at the skull to imitate its snarl.

"You know, you found it on my property. That means that it belongs to me." Big Boss said.

"It belongs in a museum." Snake countered.

"So do you. Anyway, I think if we want to be that specific it would actually belong to the nearest local government, but we don't have to tell them anything. You guys found it and I already have enough money. Just let me have one thing out of the box if I see something I want."

"Deal. That's reasonable."

"In that case, I'll see you when you get here."

The call was ended. They put one chest in each jeep. Snake's vehicle carried the chest full of booze and he insisted on being allowed to drive. They cruised out to the beach and followed it to the airstrip. Along the way they were treated to a very beautiful sunset. It looked like something out of an ending to a NES game. All they needed was a nostalgic chiptune to go along with it. Mantis still couldn't keep his eyes off of the diamond skull. He wouldn't even let Sunny examine it, but he did so out of concern for her personal safety rather than the fear that she would drop it.

Big Boss was waiting for them next to the garage when they got back. It took him less than a minute to find what he wanted. He dug through the box and uncovered a musket. Giggling like a horny school girl, he walked away with it clutched protectively against his chest. They would definitely need to sort through the treasure later as none of them had expected a gun to be in there. Snake popped open the container that held his entire share and pulled out the large bottle of booze he had started drinking from. There were twenty five bottles crammed into the chest. Whoever had buried it had even thought to pad the contents protectively with cotton. Those who had claimed their own personal items out of the box walked inside with them.

A maid led them directly to the theater. Big Boss sat at the front of the room beside the screen where he was busy refurbishing his musket. Ocelot was helping him. It looked like they had all the supplies they needed to clean the rifle and Snake knew they all belonged to Ocelot, who was probably more interested in older guns than Big Boss was. Chill Penguin could barely contain her excitement and stood up so quickly that she startled Anna.

"Did you guys find some buried treasure?" Chill Penguin asked enthusiastically.

"No, we went to a garage sale." Solidus said, readjusting his crown that didn't quite fit him perfectly.

That shut her up rather nicely.

"Our native neighbors are quite talented in arts and crafts." Raiden said.

He pointed the silver scepter at one of the maids.

"Fair Brazilian lady! I require a milkshake."

She obediently went to make him one. Anna came over to Sunny and examined the obsidian ball. Meryl shared her dagger with Campbell. Snake hogged his booze and wouldn't allow anyone a sip because once they tasted it they wouldn't ever be able to drink anything else.

"So that's how the world ends." Mantis muttered so low that they could barely hear him, leering into the eyes of the diamond skull while stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Snake watched Big Boss prepare a singular round as he steadily grew more drunk. How was this more important than the briefing? Big Boss turned to one of his guards and whistled shrilly. The woman stood to attention rigidly.

"Pull." Big Boss said as he took aim at the woman's body armor with his musket.

She holstered her weapon and puffed her perky chest out for him. Everyone couldn't help but jump in shock as Big Boss _shot one of his own guards_ with the primitive gun. Smoke and the smell of gunpowder filled the room.

"What the hell?" Campbell demanded.

"Oh, knock it off." Big Boss chided. "The bullet from this gun couldn't even begin to hope to get through her body armor."

"Friendly fire!" Chill Penguin shouted.

"She's fine. See?"

The guard nodded and gave them a thumbs up and a small curtsy.

"Do it again." Solidus prompted.

"No!" Campbell exclaimed in horror.

Big Boss looked to his guard, who shrugged indifferently. He smiled and nodded at Solidus. Snake sighed. He was really going to do it. Snake shook Mantis by his shoulder to snap him out of his trance and pointed at Big Boss. Mantis had missed the first one, but Snake was going to make sure he didn't miss the second one. It didn't take him long to prepare another shot, which he promptly fired at his guard yet again much to the sheer terror of his other guests. The maid who had been sent to fetch Raiden's treat, entered just as the round went off. Raiden watched her reaction very carefully. As it was not her duty to question Big Boss, which was a small price to pay for him saving her from a career as a sex slave, she barely showed any sign of concern and delivered Raiden's tasty shake to him.

The clamoring in the room had reached a fever pitch. Big Boss didn't even dare to fire another shot. He passed his new gun to a maid and motioned for her to leave the room. No words were needed and she probably wouldn't hear them over the outrage. This was to go in his gun cabinet. To quiet the room, Big Boss pulled out his sunglasses and dangled them in front of everyone. The sound dropped off so abruptly it almost made Snake's ears pop. Big Boss put his sunglasses on to ensure they would remain complacent and snapped his fingers. The lights dimmed. This time there was no presentation. Snake braced himself for the lecture.

"I don't have much to say this evening." Big Boss began.

Everyone groaned in disgust. Big Boss tapped his sunglasses to make them behave. He opened his mouth to say something when his cell phone suddenly chirped. Big Boss took it out and read the message on the screen.

_I found him._

He put the phone away and cleared his throat, doing his best to remain perfectly composed, though in his mind he saw himself running away from the room so quickly that he left a trail of fire in his wake.

"There are some things that need to be taken care of before we can start our next mission, so you will all have another break. Nanami could not manage to locate the Patriots. Dismissed."

His audience didn't like the news one bit. They were so hard to please. What exactly was so terrible about having to spend time on a remote island in a beach house that had just about every amenity they could think of? Perhaps it was having to sleep on the floor and share rooms or maybe they were just so desperate to have this business done with that they couldn't focus on anything else. Big Boss whistled sharply and a trio of guards began following him. He took advantage of the confusion and made his way briskly into the command center, which was empty except for him. His guards waited outside the door and barred entry, somehow seeming to know what he wanted without him having to ask. The command prompt Nanami lived in was still in the corner of the screen, working tirelessly.

"I have located David Oh, also known as Zero. Doing so was not easy." Nanami stated. "Yet he is where he is."

An old picture of Zero appeared on the screen. Another appeared beside it, showing a fine looking gentlemen who had aged gracefully. The face belonged to Zero. Big Boss watched as the image zoomed out and showed him sitting around a pool with several other codgers who looked like dehydrated jerky.

"This is the Purgatory Retirement Home in Brahms, Pennsylvania. His picture is on the website under its promotional material. It took a little while, but I have discovered that he is going under a different name. Watson Pierce. I have obtained his medical records. I regret to inform you that he is suffering from dementia."

Big Boss sighed heavily.

"Yet he is the last link, so perhaps recovering him might help. He is able to stay out of nursing homes due to the medication he is taking. I can't find anything on this drug. Frankly, I am not certain how he is getting it. Naomi might be able to help if she can get her hands on a sample of it."

"Still, it wouldn't be safe to bet on him." Big Boss said aloud. "He probably has implants that will prevent Mantis from diving him. How come you can find all this but you can't find the Patriots?"

"This is the twelfth time you have asked me this question and my answer will remain the same. I will continue to try and find them. In the meantime, you have everything you need to find David Oh. If I can see this, than the Patriots can see this. I took the liberty of planning the operation for you. Your contact in Nighthawk has everything in place. She also told me to tell you that the second Mark Two is complete and so is Phoenix."

"Do you know what Phoenix is?" Big Boss asked.

"Yes. Are you angry? I looked because I had to. It is better for me to know. If you are concerned, you can check that silly little sanity monitor."

Big Boss did so. She wasn't doing anything out of line unless she had found a way to control the results. In any case, Phoenix had been completed ahead of schedule and that was something to be happy about. The Kitty was nothing when compared to the Phoenix. Ocelot would be pleased to know they could use it if they needed to. For now, he would let it sit in a hangar somewhere until they had use of it. In the meantime, there were more important matters to consider. Big Boss summoned Ocelot to the command center with a very rude text message. That got him to come down right away.

"Exactly where are you going to stick it?" Ocelot demanded as he burst into the room.

"ENIAC found Zero." Big Boss said.

Ocelot stopped sharply and the face he made was priceless.

"I wonder who we should send to go get him." Big Boss mused.

"I volunteer."

"Chill Penguin is out of. . .what?"

He nodded to back up his words.

"It was my intention to do this from the very beginning. Let me take Mantis with me. I won't need anyone else." Ocelot said. "The fewer the people, the better. This is a kidnapping, after all. Besides, this is an extremely sensitive mission."

"Mantis again?"

"He's the most useful out of all of them. A psychic soldier is a rare commodity and one that should be exploited heavily."

"I don't suppose it would be wise to tell anyone we're doing this."

"Absolutely not. For one thing, it will agitate the hell out of them if they're stuck her doing nothing but trying to amuse themselves with the various recreational activities this island has to offer. They'll go nuts."

Big Boss grinned.

"Yeah, I like that." Big Boss agreed. "Nanami has everything prepared. I suppose the first matter of business would be to look into that. I'll leave prying Mantis away from his precious diamond skull to you. Oh, yeah. One more thing. The Phoenix is done. Let's hope we never have to use it."

"What a stupid thing to put faith in. Even after you have the Patriots, there will still be war. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to hope that there is never a need for something more vicious, but even that is a wasted effort."

**NEXT TIME : **Mantis and Ocelot must work together to locate Zero, who is actually expecting some guests. Switch to disc two, this is the halfway point.


	10. Dementia

**Chapter 10 : Dementia.**

There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when the best of Big Boss' private army were forced to enjoy themselves the next day. Nobody could get anything out of Big Boss and Meryl refused to try and seduce him because of his cantankerous nature. She and Snake were the only two people who had the patience to sit with the security team while they continued to look for a lead. Solidus discovered much more restrictions on the network and couldn't get very far when he went snooping. With everyone sufficiently distracted, Ocelot slipped out of the house in search of Mantis, who he found sitting on a large boulder, conferring in private with his new best friend.

It wasn't that difficult to convince Mantis to go along with him on his side quest. He insisted on bringing the skull. Ocelot saw no harm in that. While the pair left the island, Big Boss briefed the security team. They were only told that an operation was underway. No other details were necessary. Nanami had done most of the work for him as she had mentioned.

Ocelot's mission was simple. Get Zero out of the luxurious assisted living center he was currently haunting. In case things got tricky, Big Boss had plenty of duplicate vehicles ready to confuse the police or whoever would be pursuing them. It was so easy that Sunny could almost do it all by herself, but reality was a harsh mistress and Ocelot was expecting complications. Ocelot and Mantis barely had five intelligible conversations with each other on their way to Pennsylvania. Mantis was eager to get this over with since he knew he wasn't Ocelot's favorite person. The only reason he had been picked was because he could throw vases without lifting a finger if they got in a jam. It made Mantis slightly uncomfortable and a little conscious of himself. Mantis found himself missing the company of Snake. At least he could get along with him.

The two men took separate rooms in the hotel they were staying at. When they came together at the appointed time of the operation they were both ready to move. It was quite rare for Ocelot not to be wearing a lavish outfit, but he had made an exception for this occasion. Regular jeans and a fancy shirt were all he needed, both courtesy of St. John's Bay. He had even cut his hair a little bit and trimmed his mustache. Mantis, normally a regular Joe with a secret S&M fetish, had no need to change his style. They exchanged a few apelike grunts of greeting and hoofed it a couple of blocks to where their vehicle was waiting.

An inconspicuous white Ford Explorer could have belonged to any mother of four who could barely afford the amount of children she had felt inclined to contribute to society awaited their approval in a public parking lot. Fifty thousand miles were on the engine. The oil change was eight months overdue. It only had a half tank of gas. There were some mysterious stains on the passengers seat. A Bible was in the glove box. At least the exterior of the vehicle was flawless. They didn't laugh when the car didn't start. Ocelot took out his smart phone.

"Is this your idea of a joke?" Ocelot demanded.

"Snake said you liked battered vehicles." Big Boss replied.

Ocelot took a look at the Ford Explorer for a moment and shrugged.

"It is rather nice, but it won't start. I think the battery could be dead."

Mantis popped the hood and had a look at the battery. It was covered in a horrific amount of corrosion that looked like a cancer of some sort.

"I'll send someone over right away. Expect the company of a Lexus."

"Who's she?" Ocelot asked.

"No, not Alexis. A Lexus. It's a type of car."

Ocelot could hear the security team laughing at him in the background.

"I knew that!" Ocelot insisted before he hung up.

Ten minutes later a Lexus arrived. Two men stepped out and began the process of reviving the battery. Once they got it juiced up Ocelot made Mantis stand behind the vehicle and test the indicator lights. He intentionally backed up into him to test the break lights. Mantis had predicted this and didn't budge an inch. The radio didn't work. They were forced to drive in silence while they headed toward their destination. Two other white vans eventually joined them in formation following an acceptable distance behind them.

Purgatory_, _the aptly named center where wealthy sons and daughters dumped their hysterical parents the moment they came asking for help, was just outside the city limits where the property value was still high despite the poor economic climate. The drivers of the other two vehicles remained where they were while Ocelot and Mantis entered the building. Pennsylvania was unusually humid this time of year, but none of them would know that. Overcast clouds threatened to start a storm and the usual intricacies of nature a writer of epic fantasy such as Terry Brooks or Robert Jordan would spend three pages admiring were present, but none of them would know that either as they had never read any of the books the two authors had written.

Once inside, they located the reception desk and approached it. An insanely attractive red head was watching the desk, enamored in her study of the occult and hoping desperately that she hadn't missed her period because that might lead to her becoming a single mother. Mantis rang the bell out of habit and she looked up from her study of white magic. He could see she was beyond tarot cards and burning silly candles. The name on her tag identified her as Regina.

"May I help you?" Regina asked with a brilliant smile.

"I am looking for Watson Pierce." Ocelot said.

Regina's face lit up with a tinge of real concern that bothered Mantis. They were already going to have a problem.

"Is he expecting you?" Regina asked cheerfully, unable to hide her surprise.

"No, but I'm an old friend." Ocelot asked.

"Mr. Pierce does not want unexpected visitors. If you would like, I could call him on your behalf and ensure that he is currently accepting company."

"Or we could scramble your brain." Ocelot said.

"Pardon?" Regina asked.

Ocelot snapped his fingers and gestured at Mantis without taking his eyes off of Regina's elusive cleavage. She had no mental barriers at all due to her weak will and a lack of self-confidence, which made taking control of her incredibly easy. Regina became horrendously cross-eyed while Mantis was manipulating her. One eye locked on Ocelot while the other dropped down into the corner of her eyelid.

"You will find Mr. Pierce on the top floor of this establishment in Suite 42 if he's not out and about. You are expected. I will not raise an alarm. My favorite color is lime green."

Mantis let her go and she snapped out of the trance. Regina, none the wiser, absently touched her temple and then shook her head as if to clear it of fatigue. She smiled uncertainly at those standing before her.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?" Regina asked.

"That will be all, Regina." Ocelot replied.

Mantis took a map from the desk and studied it for a moment. The first floor was dedicated to recreational activities and other services provided by the facility. An elevator would take them where they needed to go. Mantis pressed the button for the fourth floor and resisted his urge to dive into Ocelot's mind. He'd been better about that lately. They easily located Zero's personal quarters. Ocelot rang the buzzer to summon their prey. He tried the lock just in case the door was open, but it wasn't. A card was needed to enter the room and the door was solid oak. If he were to try and kick it down, he'd break his foot. Mantis took out his wallet and retrieved a card with a scrambler imbedded in it that might unlock the door for them. He held it in front of the sensor for a minute before he gave up.

"I'm going to use remote viewing." Mantis said.

Mantis closed his eyes and took a deep breath, projecting himself beyond the door in front of them. An old man was in the bedroom bent over a laptop computer, playing some game, dressed in a bath robe with a pair of blue slippers. Mantis kept his mind's eye there while he rang the doorbell again, which was no small feat. Zero waved at the air as if to dismiss the sound and moved his chair closer to the desk he was sitting at. Mantis came back to himself and gave Ocelot a nod. He directed a bolt of psychic energy where the lock might be to break it and heard a loud crack. The door splintered. Both of them stepped away from the door and began looking around like they had nothing to do with that noise. A curious janitor rounded the corner and gave them a dirty look.

Those with weak minds were no challenge for Mantis. Ocelot knew Mantis had gotten to him when the man went rigid. To satisfy Ocelot's sadistic desires, Mantis had the janitor sit down in the corner and wear his mop over his head. He then overloaded the man's senses, which caused him to blackout. Mantis was more careful with this than he usually was. Ever since he acquired the skull he began to notice that his powers were getting stronger. One wrong move and he would probably blow someone's head off. The door opened with ease and they stepped into Zero's suite.

The whole living room was a warm beige color and the furniture and general design complimented the color to a level of pure excellence. It was very cozy. Both of them marched right to where Zero was, feeling the weight of their hidden guns press more heavily against their skin. Big Boss had so many M1911's that he could give them away for free. Mantis had one equipped now while Ocelot still insisted on carrying a revolver around. They stood in the doorway to the bedroom and looked down upon Zero as he continued working on his laptop. He was so involved in what he was doing that he neglected to react to them even though he knew they were there.

Mantis launched himself mentally at Zero in that moment and found himself repelled. Either he had psychic implants or he would be more difficult to probe than most. Mantis tapped his skull and shook his head at Ocelot to convey this to him. This did not come as a surprise. Now they would have to find a way to convince Zero to come with them whether he wanted to or not. Zero stopped configuring the latest edition of Trillian on his laptop and spun around in his chair to face his guests.

"Who the hell are you two?" Zero demanded. "I told that woman that I wasn't to be disturbed and I wasn't to have any visitors. I only wanted to be bothered if this building caught on fire. How did you cretins get in here?"

"We're here to take you back. To the Patriots." Ocelot said.

"Who?"

"Don't you remember?" Ocelot asked, toying with Zero's condition. "We were sent here."

"You were?"

"Yes."

He blinked a couple of times as his face lit up with surprise.

"That's right, now I remember. Sort of. Hold on a minute, will you?"

Zero stood up and wandered into his bathroom. Ocelot and Mantis carefully followed him into the bathroom large enough to hold a party in and watched as he took his medication, which was administered via a needle. For a man who was over a hundred, he moved without the need of a walker and seemed to be quite healthy. His hair was a mess and he looked a little underweight, but aside from that he seemed twenty years younger.

He did not recognize Ocelot at all. This had already been discussed. Zero had dementia, but because he was able to adequately care for himself without the need of a nurse and had a ton of money he had avoided being imprisoned at a hospice center. Nanami had been unable to find any record of how Zero had gotten dementia. Notes of any kind were rather hard to come by on the man who was the ruler of the entire world. Ocelot's face was hard against seeing Zero like this in person. Zero had a wild look in his eye as if he were two steps short of going crazy.

Zero pushed passed them as they looked at each other in confusion and jumped on his gaming laptop. He pulled up a window he had minimized earlier. Mantis felt his jaw drop in disbelief. Zero was playing Maple Story.

"My friend said something about somebody stopping by. I really don't remember the specifics, but he said something about someone coming to pay me a visit, I think. Hold on, he should be here in a moment. He's late, you see. We were supposed to go questing an hour ago."

Another avatar appeared on the screen and approached Zero.

"There he is! My best friend!" Zero declared enthusiastically, pointing at the screen for emphasis.

Much to their displeasure, the pieces of this demented puzzle came together. The screen name Zero was pointing at was simply GW. Ocelot pulled out his specially designed smart phone and sent a call back to HQ.

"Boss, are you there?" Ocelot demanded.

"What's up, buttercup? You got something interesting to say or are you just helping me clean out my eardrums?" Big Boss replied.

"GW knew we were coming. I think we might be in big trouble out here. I also believe there really is a spy in your ranks."

"Any idea who it might be?"

"None aside from the fact that it isn't any of the clones. They are incapable of betraying us."

"Well, that narrows it down to the remaining members of the joke that was Blue Death, all of my maids, all of our other friends, and the League of Five. How did this spy get past Mantis?"

"I have no idea." Ocelot said.

Zero paid them no heed and chuckled to himself as he began conversing with GW. Mantis watched the screen with interest.

_QueenOfEngland : You're late! Penalty!_

_ GW : LOL, sorry. Been busy lately tending to a few things. I sent you a ton of gold, though._

_ QueenOfEngland: Awesome! Hey, what was it you said about me getting visitors again?_

_ GW : ROFL, sometimes you're really hopeless, Zero. I said that I'm sending somebody down to come get you so that we can meet in person. BTW, did you take your medication?_

_ QueenOfEngland: Yeah. I think those people you sent to come get me got here early._

_ GW : That's great! _^ - ^ _Although at the same time it's a little unexpected. She should be a really cute girl. Do you need glasses?_

_ QueenOfEngland : Cute? You must be gay. They're two men. One of them is old like me and the other one looks like he'll just have the salad, thank you very much._

_ GW : _(╬ o益o)

GW was silent for a moment, which noticeably interrupted the flow of their conversation. Ocelot took one of Naomi's needles out of his pocket and injected Zero in the neck with it. This effectively started Plan B. The old man slumped over to the side, knocked out cold. Ocelot checked for a pulse and waited for two full minutes to ensure his heart was still beating before he threw Zero over his back and prepared to carry him out of the building. GW still hadn't said anything back to Zero. Mantis darted into the bathroom and grabbed the medicine Zero was taking. After collecting a sizable sample, he put a pillow case over Zero's head to conceal him.

"Is he okay?" Mantis asked.

"It's an extremely light dose." Ocelot replied. "He'll be asleep for ten minutes at the most. That should be enough time for us to get out of the building."

Mantis and Ocelot broke for the door and ran to the elevator. Once inside, they mashed the button for the bottom floor. Mantis' ears began ringing as the platform descended. Something wasn't right. Mantis dug into his ears to try and stop the dull drone and came away with blood on his fingers. A familiar hymn dominated his hearing. It was the same tune he used to lure his victims to him, but it was much more dark and sinister. Mantis felt someone trying to exert their power over him. As one who was familiar with the art of manipulating minds, he knew what to be aware of and how to remain himself. However, if he wasn't careful he would find himself at the mercy of the other psychic.

This had to be that person GW had sent to come fetch Zero.

"Ocelot, we've got to get out of here fast." Mantis said, holding his head. "There's someone in the area who is as powerful as me."

"You're not going any farther." a familiar voice said.

The doors opened and in front of them stood Liquid Snake. He had appeared out of nowhere. Mantis blinked and rubbed at his eyes. This had to be a clever illusion. For a moment he could swear that Liquid temporarily changed into someone else, but even that might be his eyes playing tricks on him at the bequest of the psychic soldier in their midst. He couldn't stop himself from being convinced that it really was Liquid. It certainly wasn't outside of the realm of possibility considering how much cloning had been going on. Ocelot tore out his revolver and took aim at Liquid, which clearly indicated that there shouldn't be another Liquid wandering around. He was not able to pull the trigger. At first he couldn't understand why, but then he remembered he was using his right hand, the same one Liquid had once infected. His other arm was busy carrying Zero. Ocelot attempted to switch the two, but he couldn't let go of his gun.

Ocelot strained against the iron grip he had on the handle. His arm responded of its own bidding and twirled the revolver stylishly before returning it to his belt. He holstered the revolver incorrectly and quickly changed the position of the weapon so it would fit better. Ocelot began moving forward. It did him no good to resist despite how much he was trying to make himself not step any closer to Liquid, who should not have been alive.

Mantis pulled out his M1911 and took aim at Liquid. The barrel of the gun stripped itself as he held it and the magazine ejected, rendering the gun inoperable. Mantis felt a cord wrap around his throat. He was hoisted into the air by an invisible force intent on strangling the life out of him. Mantis gagged and reached out to Ocelot for support, but he didn't even turn his head. He tried to retaliate, but found his power challenged by their hidden foe. The only thing keeping him from blacking out was the fact he actually managed to get the cord off of his throat long enough to breath. His reward for this was getting flung around inside of the elevator like a rag doll, but Mantis would not yield.

"I thought you had heard." Liquid said to Ocelot. "That's Big Boss for you. Don't worry, I'm on your side. Give me the old man."

Ocelot might have done just that if not for the sudden awakening of the darkness within him. An uncontrollable fury raced through his veins as the lie he had once convinced himself to believe suddenly became the truth once more. Ocelot was fully aware of what was happening. He slapped the embarrassing fake copy across the face so hard that the psychic soldier posing as him became visible for a moment. She was wearing a gas mask with three filters, a tinted visor, and a sleek skin tight body suit that didn't look familiar. The woman shook her head to clear it and then put on the facade of being Liquid again even though the jig was up.

While she was weak, Mantis managed to break free from the cord that held him. He pulled his gun towards him and reassembled the pieces.

Nobody could have expected what happened next.

"What is this?" Liquid Snake said through Ocelot with immense distaste. "You didn't get my nose right!"

The real Liquid Snake, which at that point was highly debatable, began inspecting its shocked counterpart. He tore open the brown coat his impostor was wearing.

"I was much more muscular than this. Where's my sunglasses? How come I don't have a beautiful tan?"

"Silence!" the woman roared.

The soldier stopped using the image of Liquid to confuse them and jumped back. With a hiss, she raised both of her hands and aimed them at Ocelot. A rush of blue flame erupted from her palms and enveloped Ocelot, who began screaming.

"It's just another trick!" Mantis shouted. "Don't let it be real!"

Upon hearing that and accepting it as the truth, the sensation of fire burning through his clothing subsided, but the image did not. Ocelot looked at his hands in horrified fascination as the fire ate through his clothing and his skin.

_You bumbling twit, don't look at it! That will make it real! _Liquid shouted from within Ocelot's soul. _Stand aside! Let me handle this!_

Liquid tried surging forward, but Ocelot blocked him with all of the concentration he could possibly muster. He snarled against the familiar sensation of losing his mind to the evil he had created within himself.

"Damn it, not now!" Ocelot groaned.

The psychic soldier turned off her imaginary fire and switched tactics. She extended one hand forward and a ball of energy formed in her palm, which she hurled straight at Ocelot. Mantis darted in front of the old man just in time and took the full force of the blow with a psychic shield that nearly broke under the force of the attack. Ocelot stood up and his right arm went for his gun, which he did not intend.

"You idiot, you can't shoot her!" Ocelot roared.

Ocelot's head jerked sharply to the right when Liquid managed to get enough influence to become physical.

"Especially not after you spoiled the surprise!" Liquid retorted.

"Fine! Shoot her! See what happens!"

Liquid fired six shots at her. She deflected each by waving around her middle finger. Mantis shoved both of his hands forward and knocked her back.

"Ocelot, snap out of it!" Mantis demanded. "Liquid is no more real than the fire you were just in!"

Mantis threw a chair at her, which bounced right off of an invisible barrier around her body. He was right. Liquid was only as real as Ocelot made him. He no longer needed to rely on becoming Liquid to dupe the Patriots. Ocelot was only hurting himself. Yet Liquid still lingered in the shady corners of his mind, crouched behind the cobwebs. Ocelot willed Liquid away from him and ambled over to Zero, intent on trying to protect them while the two psychic warriors battled it out in the foyer.

"Who gets the bill for the damage?" Mantis asked.

She didn't understand what he was asking at first, but then she figured out he was just putting a new spin on asking who she was.

"I am a Guardian of the Patriots." she said. "My name is Kagami."

Mantis blinked in surprise.

"You were expecting maybe Sneaky Slug, Tenacious Lobster, or Feisty Bush Cricket?" Kagami asked. "No, us Guardians get to pick our own names. We don't throw darts at a board."

She deftly flicked a knife from her wrist that Mantis didn't have time to block. It drove right into his sternum. Excruciating agony gripped Mantis as he collapsed to his knees. Ocelot picked up Zero and looked to Mantis for a moment before trying to make his escape. Kagami turned her attention to him while Mantis suffered in agony. Diving into his mind, she did her best to bring Liquid forward again. Ocelot collapsed to the ground and dropped Zero again, which angered him more than anything else. This was a fragile man they were throwing around. He might have been healthy, but he was over one hundred years old. Anything could kill him and just about anything would as he was long overdue for death.

Ocelot felt his mind fragment. He knew this type of attack could damage him psychologically, but it was out of his power to defend against it. It would have been better if he had gotten those psychic implants after all. Too late now. Bits and pieces of who he was swirled around inside of a blender until he lost his sense of self. Zero was beginning to stir as the effects of the drug wore off. Mantis grabbed the blade, testing for its signature. It felt real enough and the pain was beyond anything else he had ever experienced, but he couldn't let himself be fooled. There, at the hilt, was an inconsistency in its physical appearance. The blade vanished from his chest, but the pain was still there. Kagami left Ocelot swirling in the tornado of doubt she had put him in and returned to Mantis.

She was certainly full of tricks. Mantis felt her fooling around in his head, but she would find it nearly impossible to attack him in that manner. The location of Big Boss' island would become evident to her if she snooped around enough. Mantis realized with a great deal of despair she could also get information from Ocelot. He couldn't be bothered to worry about how greatly that would compromise their mission just yet. They were doing all right with a spy in their ranks already, so he didn't see how terrible things could get with an even greater handicap imposed on them. Big Boss would find a way.

Mantis threw another piece of furniture at her. This wouldn't get him anywhere. With an audible snap of her fingers, which was impressive since she made the sound even with the material covering her hands, Kagami made ten of herself and surrounded Mantis. Each mirrored version of Kagami produced a machete from a sheath strapped to their backs. Mantis was fairly certain this weapon wasn't fake. Kagami laughed as she charged into Mantis with her machete ready. He closed his eyes, waiting for her to get close enough. Mantis correctly guessed who the real Kagami was and countered her brutally. The quickest way to win a fight in hand to hand combat was to break something and Mantis made her elbow bend the wrong way before he let her go. Kagami hit the ground and disintegrated.

It was another trick. She reappeared behind him and lashed out with her giant blade. Mantis didn't get out of the way in time. She left quite a nasty gash on his back, but it was better than getting hit in jugular vein, which was where she had been aiming. Kagami had to have removed herself from the fakes and become hidden with the aid of her power. He had underestimated her. Mantis tried to pull the machete away from her with psychic force, but she knew he would have tried that eventually so she had no trouble blocking him.

Mantis tossed a painting at her, wishing he had brought a knife with him. Kagami cut through the piece of art and howled in frustration, fed up with having things thrown at her. Mantis made a run for it. He was hoping to make it to the kitchen so he could launch a set of knives at her or crush her with a refrigerator. Mantis burst into a living area where the old people could get together and talk about World War II when they weren't hyped up on FOX News. They had already been alerted by the commotion in the lobby so they weren't too surprised to see a very skinny gentlemen come from that way with a nasty looking cut straight down his back. Kagami was right behind him, laughing haughtily while she chased him down with her machete. Unsure of how to react, they laughed with her. It was quite a ridiculous display.

He quickly moved a fine oak desk in her path. She crashed into it and fell to the ground. Mantis spotted a LED TV mounted on the wall which was tuned to _The Price is Right_. He tore it from its hinges and swung it like a bat upside Kagami's head while she was trying to stand back up. Kagami went out like a light. He sighed in relief and knew this was his chance to escape. However, curiosity overwhelmed him. Mantis believed he had just enough time to unmask her. With a groan of exasperation, he gave in to this desire and jumped on top of her. The old men began hollering and clapping in approval. Mantis worked his fingers along her gas mask, trying to find where the release was. He couldn't get it to come off.

Kagami suddenly arched upward and cried out in immense agony. The scream sounded as if it had come from the last person alive realizing the futility of their own existence.

"The. . .the medicine!" Kagami hissed.

She kneed him in the stomach just above his groin and threw him off of her.

"Pervert!"

The windows crashed inward as a squad of HAVEN soldiers arrived. Mantis scrambled to his feet and went back the way he came since more opposition was coming from where he wanted to go. Kagami howled in anger and knocked all of the soldiers off of their feet while Mantis ran back to the lobby.

"Leave us! He is mine!" Kagami declared. "I do not need your help!"

Mantis burst into the lobby on shaky legs with his groin gripped in his hand. Zero and Ocelot had left the building. Had they forgotten him? Mantis certainly wouldn't put it past Ocelot. He still might be able to take on all of them. Then again, maybe not. Kagami was quite powerful. Mantis couldn't recall ever meeting anyone as good as he was. Kagami entered the room, breathing heavily and holding her hatchet in front of her. Mantis took a deep breath and readied himself to play her game again. They began circling each other slowly, waiting for the other to make the first attack. The guilt Mantis had for destroying his village came back to him, but he was wary of it. He couldn't get anything definitive on Kagami, so he tried making her remember what her childhood had been like. That only seemed to make her more furious as her hands began shaking in rage.

Now Kagami stood in front of the entrance to the assisted living center. A van crashed through the front doors and ran into her. Kagami was flung forward and temporarily disoriented, but still moving. The window to the drivers side rolled down and Ocelot poked his head out of it. With his revolver in hand, he shot Kagami six times. He got her before she was able to erect a barrier to defend herself with. The suit she was wearing offered little protection against the bullets. Mantis watched in disgust as she collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely. It had been a long time since he had seen someone die. The shock of being hit must have prevented her from crying out. Her injuries would likely prove fatal. He couldn't help but wonder if it might have been possible to save her.

"Get in!" Ocelot demanded.

He opened the passenger's side door for Mantis as he crawled into the vehicle. Ocelot tore out of the building, purposely spun his tires out on the recently mowed lawn, and drove away from the scene of the disturbance. Mantis looked into the back seat and saw that Ocelot had forced Zero to keep sleeping.

"Junior Mints to Hot Tamales, please come in!" Big Boss demanded over the CODEC.

"We're here. We have the package in our possession." Ocelot said. "Is something wrong?"

"There will be a slight change to the mission. At the airfield you will meet with a friend of mine. She will be your host until we have a chance to speak again."

"What are you saying?" Mantis asked, confused.

"Do not try to call this number again. When the time is right, I will contact you."

Big Boss dropped the line. Mantis looked at Ocelot, visibly perplexed.

"He's in trouble." Ocelot said.

Mantis didn't bother pressing the situation. He didn't even want to think about it right now. Their focus returned to the current situation. One thing remained to be done before they were ready for an extraction. Down the road was a corrugated box facility closed for the day. They pulled into the parking lot and made their way around the back where a black Buick Park Avenue was waiting. Three members of Nighthawk stepped out and approached the Ford Explorer. They noted the dent it had incurred when Ocelot had driven the thing through the front door of the old age home. It would no longer be wise to use the van as cover. The team responsible for Zero took the Buick while the mercenaries of Nighthawk drove the Ford Explorer behind the building and awaited further orders.

The switch had been made just in time. Two helicopters flew passed them, scanning the area as they went. Neither of them could help but breath a sigh of relief and be thankful that so much had gone into the planning of this operation. They didn't dare jinx it by thinking that they were free at this point. Even if they were, there seemed to be a problem at home. That would only serve to further complicate their enormously risky situation. Zero stirred in the backseat, groaning as he came awake.

"Where's that cute girl Glen mentioned?" Zero demanded.

"Who?" Ocelot asked.

"Glen Willis. GW."

"Come closer and I'll tell you." Ocelot beckoned.

Zero leaned forward. Ocelot shoved a needle in his neck and gave him another injection before he could resist.

"Glen Willis." Ocelot muttered. "That's quite a change from George Washington."

"Maybe it developed a sense of humor." Mantis offered.

"By the way, I'm sorry about the girl, Mantis. I saw your face. I assume you felt some sort of connection with her."

Mantis didn't say anything.

"If it makes you feel any better, she was a slave from birth. Her existence is to serve the whims of the Patriots. I could have even been considered a Guardian for all I did for them, but I ranked a little higher. Soon they won't even need them."

"Why?"

Ocelot grimaced. Apparently he had said too much. He pretended as if nothing had been called into question. Mantis knew better than to press him.

"I think she might have read your mind." Mantis said. "If she had a chance to report back what she saw to the Patriots, are we in any danger?"

"Probably." Ocelot replied, and left it at that.

Thirty minutes later they arrived at the airfield where their ride was waiting. Zero had stirred well before then, but he pretended to be asleep so they wouldn't shove a needle in him again. The area was deserted. There weren't even any mercenaries around. Their jet was the same model it had always been and they easily located it. After parking, Ocelot frisked Zero and took his gun away from him. The safety was even on. Ocelot slapped at his cheeks to rouse him, but Zero wouldn't have any of it.

"I'm not going to knock you out again." Ocelot said.

Zero bolted from the vehicle and began running away from them. Mantis and Ocelot looked at one another in disbelief for a brief moment before they jumped out of the car and ran after him.

"Glen! Glen!" Zero yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Glen is an asshole!" Ocelot shouted.

For an old man, Zero could really run.

"You cheeky chaps are no better! Somebody help, these men are molesting me!"

"If you trip, you're going to break every bone in your body!" Ocelot said.

"Piss off! I have a glass of milk every day. My bones are fine!"

Zero scuttled inside one of the buildings. Ocelot and Mantis were not far behind. A woman was behind a desk in the lobby reading a magazine and she didn't seem concerned with her guests. She had been paid to ignore them no matter what happened. Even if they set the airfield on fire, she was still in a new tax bracket and that was all that mattered. Zero was at a pay phone trying to make it operate without using any quarters. He held the phone up defensively when the two men approached him.

"Come one step closer and I'll bust open your head!"

"There is no need for this." Ocelot assured him. "We were sent to take you back to where you belong. I said that before, didn't I? The cute girl Glen mentioned is waiting for us. She told us that we could go on ahead."

Ocelot looked to Mantis.

"Right?" Ocelot asked with a wink.

"Most definitely. And she is hot." Mantis agreed, nodding.

"You are lying to me! Deliberately! You're just taking advantage of me because I. . .I can't remember." Zero said, his voice wavering. "I want to go back to where I was. It wasn't as confusing back there and I need my medicine."

It then occurred to Mantis. He would need Naomi to be sure, but he had a hunch that half of Zero's problems had to do with the medicine he had been taught to take. The door behind them opened again and in stepped a woman around the same age as Ocelot and just as preserved. Her skin had the same texture as a dehydrated pepper, but she still felt confident enough to show off a little cleavage.

"While I can't say that I'm cute, here's your girl." she said.

"And here I was expecting Anna." Ocelot said to himself. "No, we get you instead."

"Of course. I'm in the best position to save anyone. You do know that it was me who rescued Solidus after you tried to have him killed, right?" she asked with a smile.

Ocelot nodded.

"And you are?" Mantis inquired.

"Eva." she said. "I'm an old acquaintance of Big Boss and Ocelot. I was also a former member of the Patriots. Ocelot and I have been working toward the same goal for a while now, but this is the first time we've met face to face in years. I am the leader of Nighthawk."

"It was in the report Big Boss issued." Ocelot said. "She's been working behind the scenes this entire time, but she hasn't had to do much. I take it you didn't read the report?"

"No way. Snake was the only one who did."

Ocelot turned to Zero, who was still clutching the phone protectively.

"There now, you see?" Ocelot asked, gesturing towards Eva. "There's the girl."

Eva gave Zero a thumbs up. Mantis could sense that she was upset by Zero's appearance. He couldn't blame her. If they had all once been friends with him, it would be difficult to see Zero in such a degraded condition. Zero still didn't recognize them, but he was convinced enough to put the phone back on its hook.

"So we're going to go see Glen?" Zero asked.

They all nodded enthusiastically. Ocelot could see that Zero still wasn't buying most of this, so he took a hesitant step forward. Zero eyed him suspiciously as he casually edged closer. Eva had caused him to lower his guard as they now seemed a little more legit in his eyes due to what GW had said earlier. Zero was clearly confused. Ocelot struck him quickly with another needle to the shoulder and caught him before he could tumble uselessly to the ground.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Ocelot muttered.

"Thank you for choosing the Winchester Airfield." the receptionist said as they left.

**NEXT TIME : **Big Boss' island is invaded. Snake is the only one who can defend it. A copy of Nanami is merely a copy. . .full of love.


	11. Spiral

**Chapter 11 : Spiral.**

"And that's why he's a Loli Monster." Big Boss concluded, patting Sunny on the shoulder.

He made sure to explain everything to her in Naomi's lab when everyone else was busy. Sunny had secretly been asking him what exactly Otacon's dirty nickname had meant ever since she had first heard it simply because everyone freaked out when Big Boss tried to tell her. She was unable to comprehend any of the information she had been given, but she knew that none of it was good. Big Boss ruffled her hair.

"You'll understand when you're older. For now, here's an oatmeal cookie for being such a sweet kid."

She accepted the treat and began eating it immediately. Big Boss left the lab and went back to the command center where everyone was working hard on a mission they knew next to nothing about. He took his stand at the front of the room, examining the monitors as various information scrolled across them. Big Boss looked over the various widgets that monitored his PMC's, bank account, and several other vital resources while noting the screens that his team was working with. It was all in a days work and Nanami only made it easier. Everything was normal.

Sunny took a seat beside Otacon and kept looking over at him while she worked, terrified. He didn't seem to notice.

"We're being invaded." Nanami said suddenly, breaking the silence.

They all had a good laugh at that. A new window appeared on the screen at the front of the room that showed a battleship and an aircraft carrier heading directly towards them. Several helicopters carrying soldiers were getting very close to the island. Big Boss bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood while everyone gasped at once with such intensity that all the air was sucked out of the room. A round of laughter, now nervous, followed immediately. Using the touch screen functionality of the display, Big Boss zoomed in on the battleship to make sure it wasn't affiliated with a national military unit. He noted the number on the ship and brought up an on screen keyboard.

Using his database, he searched for the owner of the ship. It belonged to Haven. Being a premier PMC, it made sense that Haven had been allowed naval capacity. This was useful in disarming pirates across the world when using a conventional military force would cause a ridiculous PR backlash. The advantages a PMC had over the military were truly frightening.

Finished with that, Big Boss turned to the security team.

"Fire drill!"

They were completely clueless. Big Boss lifted both of his arms to try and convey the need for them to act immediately.

"What the hell is a fire drill?" Solidus asked.

"Hey, this is a G rated work environment because of the kid. No swearing in the war room!" Big Boss snapped. "Don't tell me we've never had a fire drill."

"Of course we've had a fire drill." Raiden said sarcastically.

"Damn it!" Big Boss roared. "I can't believe this!"

"Sunny, cover your ears." Otacon advised.

Her eyes got big and she scooted away from him a little. Otacon looked at her quizzically, which made her recoil slightly in fear. Big Boss went back to the screen and minimized all of the windows. He brought up a command prompt and began inputting code.

"We're going to have a fire drill. The first rule is to not panic. The second rule is to not throw up. Now we raise the alarm."

"That way they totally know we know they're coming." Raiden said.

He turned from his screen and gave Raiden a look that would stop a grizzly bear in its tracks.

"I will knock you down to a new level of hell each time you resurrect." Big Boss threatened.

Raiden took the threat seriously. Big Boss went back to his work. An alarm sounded throughout the house. It was quite an interesting tone and not like anything they were expecting to hear. Big Boss opened a line to communicate with the entire household.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this party is over. We're being attacked, but don't worry. I have a plan. Everyone will need to come to the control room right now."

"I am ready to be removed." Nanami said.

"Not so fast. Nanami, can you make a copy of yourself on a spare drive?" Big Boss asked.

"No. The spare hard drive does not have enough yottabytes to hold a proper copy of me. However, it is a neural hard drive. It will support an AI."

"I need you to be able to do this."

Big Boss typed something on the screen that they could not see since he blocked the box with his body.

"Okay. I can do that, but the result may not be pretty."

"Then do it now and do it fast! Everyone else, boot and nuke all the computers!"

The security team knew what to do. They began starting the computers and running an eraser program on them that would render each hard drive useless. Once that was finished, a tiny explosive finished the job. Big Boss brought up several camera's he had placed around the house to see if his message had been received. While they should have been running around in circles as if someone had put hot coals in their pants, nobody was making a move to the security room. They must have thought the alarm was some kind of goofy malfunction.

With a frustrated sigh, he checked the status of the comm line and discovered much to his horror that he hadn't had time to install it. He possessed the equipment, but the only thing he had actually properly set up was the software, which very rudely decided not to automatically inform him there were currently only two speakers online. One was in the command center while the other was in the upstairs bathroom, which was unoccupied. Nobody would hear the alarm. He input a few more commands and a blank section of the wall slid away. A light appeared in the dark chamber and the security team craned their necks to observe what had been revealed. It was a hidden armory.

"Nanami, are you done?" Big Boss asked.

"No, I need at least ten more minutes." Nanami replied calmly.

Big Boss slammed his fist into the monitor, cracking the layer of glass that protected the screen.

"If we stop now, this other me would still be able to help. Just not at one hundred percent."

"It will have to do."

"Fine. I'm finished. Yank me."

He ripped Nanami and the spare drive out of the computer. Since the hard drive that held her could withstand getting run over by a tank, he had no qualms about tossing it to Otacon, who caught it with a yelp and clutched it protectively against his chest. Big Boss input a few more commands with growing animation. It looked like he was conducting a symphony. The screen he was working on went blank and ascended into the ceiling. A plain wall was behind it decorated only by a copy of The Scream by Munch. Big Boss removed the painting and uncovered a keypad.

He typed in a complicated code that was twenty digits long judging by the subtle beeps. Once he was finished, he hung the painting over the keypad. The wall slid away, revealing a tunnel. Big Boss reached in and flicked the light switch, illuminating the dark chamber. Sweating profusely and breathing heavily, he turned to face the security team, who were completely transfixed on him.

"Don't just stand there!" Big Boss roared. "Guns!"

Big Boss gestured wildly at the armory and they got the message. Snake equipped himself with a G36C and the only handgun Big Boss had available, which was the cantankerous M1911. Snake noticed a plain chest sitting in the corner. Big Boss approached it and tore off the lid. Inside was a mysterious gun that Big Boss claimed as his own. The magazine was shaped like the symbol for infinity. Snake then recalled where he had seen the weapon before. Big Boss had used it against him when they weren't on speaking terms during the two squabbles they'd had before. He noticed "Patriot" was inscribed along the barrel.

He fetched a notebook inside the armory and scribbled something on the first available page before tearing it out and handing it to Otacon.

"I need all of you to go down that tunnel. It will branch off into two separate paths. One of them says escape while the other says defend. I think the choice is obvious. Take the elevator you find. You'll then come across a blast door with a keypad next to it. That's the code. You're all boarding a tiny submarine. It's good for escaping, but not much else without a full crew that knows what they're doing. I'm going to raise the alarm. It shouldn't take long."

"I'll go with you." Snake offered.

"I was planning on it. Let's get to it."

The security team bolted down the lonely corridor. Big Boss retrieved a megaphone from a drawer in one of the gun cabinets and ran into the library with Snake in tow. They bumped into a group of maids. After picking up the two he had accidentally knocked down, Big Boss put his voice amplifier to work even though they were so close to each other.

"Fire drill!" Big Boss shouted.

They covered their ears to shield themselves from the screeching feedback and blinked in confusion. Big Boss groaned in frustration and put the device against his mouth again.

"We're being attacked. Go through the tunnel in the command center, hang a right, and wait to be admitted to the escape vehicle."

All of them nodded.

"Is anyone upstairs?" Big Boss asked without the aid of his megaphone.

"Meryl is taking a nap in one of the bedrooms on the second floor. She's probably awake by now." one of them said.

"How about outside?"

"I'm not sure. I think everyone is inside."

Big Boss nodded in acknowledgment and continued on his way. He and his replica burst into the foyer with their guns held ready. No soldiers had broken into the manor quite yet. They still had some time.

"I'll go get Meryl." Snake said.

He was talking to empty air. Big Boss was already running into the living room with his megaphone blaring the bad news. With a shrug, Snake made his way upstairs. Two guards from the League were wandering around aimlessly on patrol when they spotted Snake and noted the rifle. Without even having to ask they became his teammates. Snake tried to ignore them and hoped they would prove useful even though they didn't talk. He checked the rooms one by one and eventually ran across Big Boss' personal office where the man in charge spent most of his time reenacting scenes from In the Darkness of Shadow Moses with the figurines that had been made based off of the novel.

The door to the office was open, which he found odd. Inside, there was a guard from the League snooping around. Snake felt his teeth crack under the strain his clenched jaw placed on them. The guard didn't even bother trying to convey it wasn't what it looked like and his friends must have considered this a betrayal because their weapons went up instantly. Snake rushed the guard while he was still shocked and belted him across the face with his rifle. The man collapsed to the floor in an unconscious heap. One of Snake's new combat buddies took out a piece of chalk from a pouch around her waist and marked the offender across the chest with a large red x.

Snake took a brief moment to investigate the room. The traitor had taken out the drawers to Big Boss' desk. He was looking for documents, but there didn't appear to be any lying around. Perhaps there weren't any secrets hidden in the room. If there were, Snake hoped Big Boss would be smart enough to come and retrieve them. In any case, they had caught their spy. Snake turned to his silent companions.

"We're under attack. One of you needs to take this guy to the submarine. It's passed the command center. You take a right."

The man picked up the unconscious guard and left the room without saying another word. Snake was left with the women, who saluted him crisply. He saw a small hole in her body armor. This must have been the guard Big Boss had shot the other day.

"I'm after Meryl. Do you know what room she is using?"

The woman nodded and took point. Snake wondered how much time he could have saved if he had only thought of that earlier. She made her way confidently towards the room containing Meryl. She found the door was locked and didn't hesitate to kick it open. Meryl shot up from the bed with the Desert Eagle she had tucked under her pillow aimed straight at the advancing soldier, who held both of her hands up as Snake entered.

"Meryl, we're leaving." Snake said.

In that instant the window at the far side of the room exploded outward as something crashed through it. The visitor was a little larger than a sabre toothed tiger and shook off the glass still sticking to its body before announcing its presence with a bizarre roar. A Kitty now stood in front of them. Snake could barely clear the lump in his throat. It had been nearly impossible to destroy the last one with conventional weaponry. Snake helped Meryl out of bed while the Kitty kept them in check. It knew it held all of the power in the room.

Kitty would decide when their battle started. Snake examined the room a little further. There was nothing around them that would be of any use. A cabinet full of antique weaponry was on the same side of the chamber the guard stood in, but none of them were coated with the peculiar diamond resin that could pierce the outer layer of armor the Kitty wore. The machine yawned as if to mock them and then lashed out with its tail and struck the guard from the League of Five across the chest. It tore through her armor and sheared her flesh away. The woman actually cried out in pain, which was a first for the League. Kitty then pounced on her.

Snake and Meryl watched helplessly as the Kitty stood over its prey, putting its face right up against hers. While it was distracted, Snake made his move. The guard was shaking in mortal terror, but managed to restrain herself from whimpering. Kitty put its face up against hers and snarled, feeding off of her fear. It reared its head backward and roared again. Before it could sink its teeth into her neck, Snake brought down the mace he had retrieved from the cabinet with all of the force inside of his body. Chunks of metal flew everywhere. The ancient weapon stuck in the armor and knocked the Kitty off of the guard. Without hesitating, he carried the woman out of the room. There was no way he would leave her behind.

Kitty shrieked in frustration and tried to dislodge the mace from its face. It was so enraged it could not accomplish this simple task without great difficulty. Kitty began slamming its head against the beautiful wood flooring. Meryl grabbed a spear from the cabinet and fled the room, closing the door behind her as she went. Snake could feel the wounded soldiers warm blood trickling down his neck and across his chest. She was bleeding pretty bad. They made it to the steps leading down into the foyer. It was completely empty. Big Boss must have gone on ahead with everyone else.

They began descending the stairs. As they did so, a huge explosion took out the front of the house. Snake felt his foot twist the wrong way and he dropped the wounded woman he was carrying. He struck his head on the floor so hard he almost blacked out. An annoying buzzing sound filled his ears as he looked toward where the front door had once been. Debris filled the air like dirty snow frozen in time. A Gekko came lumbering in and was taken out by a rocket to the side of its face before it even knew what was happening.

All twenty five members of the League of five poured out of the library. Three of them were carrying Stinger missile launchers. One man retrieved the wounded soldier from where she had fallen when Snake had dropped her. Another helped Snake up and began leading him toward the library as infantry began pouring in through the hole and were cut down by the small platoon. An ATV came barreling in just as everyone retreated into the library. Snake was good enough to walk on his own and stumbled into the command center with Meryl at his side watching his back.

Big Boss was there, ushering everyone into the secret chamber that would lead to their freedom. A couple of Haven soldiers made it inside the command center and Big Boss took them out with his Patriot. To their surprise, a Gekko even managed to squeeze into the room. While it rooted around and tried to get a bead on them, everyone darted inside the corridor. Big Boss stopped at the control panel that would close the entrance to his hidden escape route. A familiar feline roar caught their attention. The Kitty had found them. It stood at the entrance of the command center for a moment to make its presence known and then charged them. The door didn't close fast enough. Kitty rolled just in time to make it to the other side. Meryl took the initiative and held her spear ready. She wasn't quite sure exactly what she intended to do with it or if it would even help them, but something had to be done or they would soon be torn to shreds.

"Are you going to call in air support with that?" Big Boss asked.

Meryl threw the spear right into the Kitty's mouth with pinpoint accuracy. She was a real threat with the javelin during high school in track and field before she joined the military. Her skills had not rusted too much. The spear went through Kitty's mouth. It crushed the primitive weapon between its teeth and spat out the remains. Big Boss continued backing up. Kitty followed. It sought to draw out their deaths. Kitty would pounce at the last possible moment when escape seemed certain just to ruin their hope. It knew it could kill all of them at once effortlessly. Snake noticed they were passing a keypad. Big Boss tried to restrain himself, but he couldn't help but attack it the moment it was within reach. Kitty noticed and moved in for the kill. It was too late.

The floor fell away, but not before Kitty jumped into the air. Big Boss was its target. Kitty almost cleared the pit waiting to swallow it up. The Kitty fell twenty feet into a pit full of acid just short of Big Boss, who began laughing victoriously.

"All right! I'm always full of surprises!" Big Boss declared as the Kitty cried out in agony. "Let's get going before that cruiser drops a bomb on us. I'm sure they will once they find out there's nothing in here that they can use. If they make it in here, they'll have to worry about crossing this pit."

They came across the elevator in less than a minute. It opened the instant they summoned it, but not everyone could take it at once. Ten soldiers managed to cram themselves inside and took the first trip down. While they waited, two of the soldiers began administering first aid to their wounded comrade. One took her helmet off, revealing an attractive women with clear blue eyes. She looked up at Snake and smiled slightly.

_Thank you. _she mouthed silently.

Snake shrugged and gave her a thumbs up. A familiar shriek pierced their ears. The ground beneath them began rumbling. What awaited them was painfully obvious. A Metal Gear had arrived.

"I don't suppose that's something we can afford to ignore." Snake said.

Big Boss whispered a command to the guard standing next to him. The elevator dinged and opened, revealing an empty carriage. Those ahead of them had been kind enough to send it back up. The two guards working on the wounded soldier carried her inside while the bulkiest member of the League seized Meryl by the wrist and hauled her into the elevator painfully. Her reaction was delayed and before she could break away and stay with Snake she was on her way down to the submarine.

Snake knew what was coming next.

"So." Big Boss began. "About that Ray out there."

"If it detects the submarine as it departs, no more resistance." Snake summarized.

"Precisely. I thought it might come to this."

He snapped his fingers and was given the copy of Nanami he'd entrusted another soldier with. Big Boss handed it to Snake, who accepted it with a curious look on his face.

"I've got a Metal Gear parked in the garage. How about taking it for a spin with Nanami's alter ego serving as your designated driver?"

"I guess I don't have a choice. How do I get off of the island?"

"I called for reinforcements. I'm not sure when they'll be here, but they should be able to help you out. Until then, I'd suggest hiding in the cave. There's a panic room in there, but I forgot where the switch was. You'll have to find it. Try knocking on the walls, or something. There's a radio in there. You should be able to use it to hail the reinforcements."

The elevator chimed and opened to receive its guests.

"There's a battleship out there."

"Yes, that would be my first target." Big Boss said. "Worst case scenario, we can try to drop an EMP with the nuke I have."

"You have a what?"

"A missile with a lasting impression."

"How could you possibly have a nuclear weapon? I thought that if a PMC got their hands on a nuke they would be immediately disbanded. Hasn't that already happened to one of them?"

"Yeah. They were the first company on the ground when the world decided to purge the Middle East. No WMD's were found because they confiscated them. The UN went nuts when they heard and made an example of the company. I didn't own them and neither did the Patriots. They weren't worth buying. It is actually hard for a PMC to get their hands on a nuke. Only a national army or a terrorist organization is allowed to have one. The nuke I have doesn't belong to my PMC. It belongs to me."

"Much in the same way a pair of socks would?"

"You're as sharp as a tack."

"Hey, wait a minute. How am I supposed to use that radio if I have to launch an EMP?"

"That would be a neat trick, wouldn't it?"

"What if you guys haven't gotten out of the range of the blast?"

"Not to worry, my submarine is shielded against an EMP attack. It is an escape vehicle, after all."

"Can the same be said for the Rays?"

"Those Rays out there are probably all from 2007. They're not immune to an EMP. It's very expensive to shield something against an attack like that. Despite what the military would have you believe, EMP shielding is not very common. The Patriots would not let an all out nuclear war occur. If some idiot fired a nuke at China, America, or Europe, they would be all over that and end it in short order. One little blast like this won't change anything."

"So it's safe to say they don't know you have a nuke?"

Big Boss nodded and stepped into the elevator with his guards.

"Any more questions?" Big Boss asked.

"A ton, but I guess I'll just have to trust the AI." Snake replied.

He saluted Snake crisply.

"You always were my favorite." Big Boss said.

"Give me a break." Snake muttered.

"No, seriously. I mean it."

"How touching."

Snake turned to leave and ran down the hall. He crossed the path which lead into the command center as he did. The soldiers had managed to open the hidden door, but they weren't too thrilled with having to cross a pit full of acid. Snake passed by before they could start shooting at him. An elevator exactly the same as the one he had come across awaited him. Snake got inside and pushed the only available button. He hadn't asked which model this Metal Gear was. Snake didn't know what he should expect. When the elevator finally hit the bottom of the shaft, Snake stood before a member of the family of his lifelong enemy.

It looked like a heavily upgraded version of the TX-55. The main difference was its size. This rebuild stood at the same height a Rex would. The infamous laser groin was evident as were several large turrets. Missiles were launched from modules mounted on the shoulders. The slot for the warhead had been moved so that it was on the back of the beast. Snake ran along the ramp leading to the pilot's seat, which was still positioned off to the side as it had been before. It looked more powerful than a Rex or a Ray. The design was certainly more practical. This truly was a walking tank and not something built around an animal of some sort. Snake always thought the two newer models walked like they had a stick up their ass, but this unit was balanced despite its enormous frame. It was more of a walking fortress.

He wouldn't know what it was like in combat until he tried it out. The first one he'd fought hadn't been all that tough. In fact, it had just stood there while two turrets did the work for it. Back then all that was needed out of a Metal Gear was to get to one place and launch the nuke it carried. Everything was so different these days. A catwalk led to the cockpit, which was closed. There was a small terminal along the way with a dark blue screen. The monitor displayed the outline of a hand print. Snake hesitantly put his palm against the cold blue screen. It reacted immediately by giving him a nice beep.

"DNA pattern recognized." a computerized voice announced. "Welcome Big Bad Boss."

Several thick layers of armor opened up before him, revealing a rather inviting leather seat and about the same amount of diagnostic equipment an airplane would have. Snake stepped inside and the armor closed automatically behind him. The front of the cockpit was graced with a large computer screen that was currently telling him to strap in. While doing so, he noticed a mount where he was supposed to place the hard drive. Nothing happened when he did. Snake removed the cap at one end of the hard drive. A gleaming black surface was revealed. He put the hard drive back in the mount.

The interior lighting of the Metal Gear shut off for a brief second. Various commands scrolled across the computer screen, all written in code. While the code continued to scroll, a message appeared over it advising that a superior AI had been recognized and was now integrating with the system. The screen went blank with a blinking cursor in the corner before booting into the main software controlling the machine. Various options appeared before the screen. The AI began configuring them for him. Snake heard various noises coming from outside as the Metal Gear was adjusted for optimal performance.

"Hello?" Snake ventured, wondering if the AI could hear him. "Nanami?"

"Please select your level of experience." a new voice requested.

Several categories appeared on the screen.

_Virgin – This is my first time. I'm so excited!_

_ Intermediate – Take off the training wheels, the other pilots are making fun of me._

_ Expert – I'm so familiar with these things that I know exactly how many screws go into them._

_ European Extreme – Hello, my name is Asuka Langley Shikinami. What's yours?_

Snake sighed and pressed the button for virgin. A cherry appeared on the screen before him. It exploded. He had the feeling that Big Boss had personalized this unit.

"Very well. Virgin." the voice announced. "You. . ."

It phased out in static.

"This is Nanami." her voice was entirely without feeling. "Primary directive. Kill the bad guys. Secondary directive. Fall in love with Solid Snake. Since this is your first time, I shall be happy to do most of the work for you."

"You're quite a woman." Snake muttered under his breath.

"I am so happy that you have noticed me." Nanami said. "Do you think a man can love a machine?"

Snake hid his face in his hands and wanted to punch Big Boss for this.

"Maybe when this is over we can find a good body to put you in." Snake said.

"And you can take me out to a romance movie so you can see how a real man behaves while I swoon?"

"Whatever you want, Nanami."

"I am so happy." though she certainly didn't sound like it. "I shall now quickly go through the basics of operating the Metal Gear. The stick on the left controls your aim. The stick on the right controls your movement. If you have played a first person shooter, you are familiar with the Type One configuration that this unit utilizes. The turrets are fired with your thumbs. The missiles are fired with your forefingers. The laser groin is fired with your ring finger."

There was a red plastic case covering a rather large red button in front of him. The case needed to be opened in order to press the button.

"What's this here?" Snake asked, tapping the case.

"If you press that, you will fire the nuke."

Snake jerked his hand back.

"Are you ready to fight?"

He gawked. That tutorial had been very quick.

"What do you think?" Snake demanded.

"Not to worry. I can control targeting. All you would have to do is wait for the reticules to turn red."

"You're giving me far too much credit."

"Okay. In that case, I'll leave the turret to you since I do not have sufficient memory to pilot the entire unit myself due to being a copy. How's that sound?"

"Like the chance of us surviving this fight went up eighty percent. What happens if we get hit and you malfunction?"

"Then the previous AI will take over. I have already modified its code. It is not a neural AI, so it can not make as many decisions for you as I can. You will need to remember the button mapping if I am somehow destroyed."

"I think I can manage that. I've played an X-Box before."

"You should be spending more time with me than your silly little games."

"This is no time to have our first argument, Nanami."

"I'm sorry. You're right. I should respect your hobbies, which you believe are more important than me. Are you ready to fight?"

"Let's find out."

Nanami raised the platform the Metal Gear stood on. The ceiling above them did not open, which Snake was grateful for. Their advance would be compromised if the enemy knew they were coming. Snake focused on getting his hand familiar with the only joystick he needed to control, repeating the commands silently to himself. Nanami brought the visuals in front of the machine online with the help of the concealed radome. Their ascent was abruptly shortened by a series of explosions that rocked the rising platform they were standing on. Nanami kept the Metal Gear balanced as another shell of artillery struck its target. Their enemies must have finally discovered they weren't going to find anything useful in the villa. Snake sincerely hoped whatever these escape passages were made out of would be enough to sustain the force of the bombs. As he thought that, the enclosed ceiling above him cracked and fell onto the platform, dragging it down a couple of notches until the grinding metal brought it to a halt. Their lift was no longer working.

From the opening he could see sunlight streaming down on them.

"I am going to attempt to jump out of here." Nanami announced.

The Metal Gear bent at its knees. Powerful thrusters in its legs fired off an immense amount of pressure to give it the boost it needed. So strong was the force of this expulsion that a crater was punched through the platform. It was completely torn off the track it was meant to glide on and fell back to the bottom of the pit. They careened through the small opening and just managed to clear the leap successfully by a fraction of an inch. Nanami quickly maneuvered away from the hole in the ground while assessing the situation, presenting her data to Snake. The island had turned into a war zone. Behind them was the smoldering remains of the villa. Another round of artillery from the battleship beat it further into the ground in an effort to expose the hidden escape route. They wouldn't stop bombing until they struck water.

A map of the island appeared in front of him. The Haven battleship was using the small mountain as cover. Their aircraft carrier was beside it. Judging by the map, it appeared Big Boss' reinforcements had not arrived yet. Nanami maneuvered the Metal Gear in range of the ship trying to smoke Big Boss out. Four missiles launched from the mechanical giant. Nanami sought to disable the guns of the ship and succeeded in doing so. The force of the impacts rocked the ship and a super heated residue was left behind that ate through what the initial explosion didn't destroy, completely neutering the battleship and causing it to sink.

The aircraft carrier came next. Soldiers were beginning to prepare for an aerial assault with the Harriers on board. The target was just far enough away to justify the manipulation of the Metal Gear's legs to increase the range of the laser groin. In a hilariously offensive pose, the laser groin fired and ruined the jets that were just beginning to take off.

"Don't forget to close the lid." Snake muttered.

"That's your job." Nanami replied.

Nanami used a series of missiles launched at key locations to disable the aircraft carrier. Finished, the Metal Gear swung around and marched toward their ground support on the beach, leaving big footprints and tearing up the land as it walked. The cockpit Snake sat in was constructed so the movement didn't jar the occupant too much. Not even the most sensitive gut would get motion sickness from riding in this thing. The movement of the legs sounded fluid and natural, quite unlike screeching metal joints trying to act like muscles. Nanami remained quiet while she thought, leaving Snake to gaze upon the code she allowed him to observe, unaware he had stopped understanding everything after the root to the hard drive had disappeared.

The resale value of this island was going to be horrendous with all the damage being done to it. He only found himself thinking this because he was bored. Snake really wasn't needed here. Nanami had everything covered. Helicopters and boats made to carry the Kitty's and Gekko's were littered on the beach. Since nothing had been found in the house, everyone was heading back to this particular location to ex-filtrate.

It was impossible to mask the approach of a Metal Gear. Javelin rocket launchers were broken out and all of them were aimed right at the cockpit, which was so obvious a blind man could point it out. Snake saw this as an opportunity for him to act and he took control of the canon vigorously. Three rockets from the Javelins struck the cockpit, which barely rocked in response to the damage. Before Snake could begin firing on the tiny toy soldiers at his feet, Nanami used the laser groin to fry them all so quickly they would enter into their own individual afterlives still thinking they were fighting a Metal Gear. Several Gekko's jumped on the weaker parts of the legs and detonated themselves. This caused the Metal Gear to swagger a bit like a drunken whore. Nanami fired off another round from the laser groin, destroying more armed personnel as she did.

One Gekko managed to climb up the Metal Gear with the aid of the suction cups on its feet and crouched on the cockpit in front of Snake. He screamed and shielded himself with both of his arms as the Metal Gear exploded. For a moment, the visuals were offline. When they returned, Snake sighed in relief. Nanami backed up a bit, now keenly aware of the destructive capability of a kamikaze Gekko. She also began to appreciate the fact that the legs were still the main point of weakness for this particular model. Some things never changed.

Snake was just getting comfortable when a large sea dwelling creature leaped into the scene with the grace of a dolphin and landed right in front of them. With a fierce cry, the behemoth stood on two silly legs and spread its arms wide in a provoking challenge. The Ray was a head taller than them and looked exactly like the same kind Snake had seen during the Big Shell Incident, which hopefully meant that it was outdated.

"Fascinating." Nanami mused.

"Give it a laser groin to the face." Snake ordered.

Snake could only imagine what the laser groin looked like from those beneath the TX-55 as it aligned itself for the shot. He hadn't expected to be taken seriously. A glorious beam struck the Ray right in its face, knocking its head violently backward. The beam went right through its skull, killing it immediately. There wasn't any time to celebrate. Without missing a beat four Ray's jumped out of the water and landed stylishly in front of the TX-55. They all gave their funny little whine while the weight of the nuclear missile attached to the back of the TX-55 bore down on Snake.

"Don't worry, my love." Nanami assured Snake. "You will not die today."

Nanami fired off a missile at one of them to test a theory she had calculated. The Ray deployed just enough chaff to confuse the hell out of the missile and send it careening into a group of HAVEN soldiers who were trying to find a Javelin in the back of their jeep. Each Ray launched a barrage of missiles at the TX-55. Nanami threw so much chaff in the air one would think the TX-55 was a part of a New Year's celebration in China. The Rays were not impressed by this stalemate. Each of them extended one flipper that doubled as both a wing and an arm and began firing the substantially powerful canons located at the tip of the limb.

Nanami attempted to move out of the way, but there really wasn't any cover for them to hide behind and four against one did not make for a fair fight. The bullets took their toll on the exterior of the armor, but it would take a lot more ammunition to render the TX-55 inoperable. Unless they aimed for the junctions at the legs. That had to be a primary weak point of any Metal Gear that didn't have as much plating protecting them as Rex did. The Rays weren't any better than the chicken legs the TX-55 stood on.

Once Nanami had moved out of their range, the Rays trotted forward awkwardly on their horse hooves. They weren't not in a hurry. After all, how did Snake expect to get away from them on an island?

"Network detected. Permission to hack it. Be forewarned. Doing so will leave you in control of the Metal Gear." Nanami said.

"Wait a second. Elaborate. You're going to try and hack one of the Rays?"

"That is correct. It will even out our odds."

"How can you possibly do that? There's no wireless router around here. At least I don't think that there is."

"3G, honey bun. These Rays are being controlled via satellite." Nanami could not hide that she was placating him. "Big Boss owns a satellite. I will upload myself to that and attempt to find a way to gain control of the Rays."

"No wonder there's so much cancer going around these days."

"Indeed, but don't tell anyone."

"Why don't you kill the Patriots while you're up there?"

"Does not compute."

"That's your best excuse yet."

"Your reply, please." Nanami urged.

"Be my guest."

"I will deploy chaff the moment I am in control of the Ray. I will give secondary control over to the helper AI. It is not capable of speech or choosing to obey requests. I will leave metrics and analysis of the internal components. . ."

"In English, Nanami!"

"If something is in danger of breaking, you will be warned."

"And if you can't find a way to gain control of a Ray?"

"I am sure you will know when I return."

"Fine. Good luck, Nanami."

"Luck is a belief that fate is controlled by something other than chance. It is irrelevant. Nonetheless, I appreciate your concern."

The window containing the code for Nanami bid him a cute farewell with a crafty emoticon and closed.

**NEXT TIME : **The identity of the traitor is revealed. Snake auditions for a role in Neon Genesis Evangelion, but fails to get the part and later plays an extra in Xenogears alongside Ritsu Tainaka, Kagami Hiiragi, and Motoko Kusanagi. They steal the show during the second act, but you can't tell it's them due to the costumes they're required to wear. Ritsu discretely waves at the camera in the theatrical version, which was edited out of the Blu-Ray release. I take these previews very seriously.


	12. Bad Day

**Chapter 12 : Bad Day.**

Immediately several error windows popped up and gave him a brutal assessment of the situation. The Rays had done a little more damage than Snake had thought. Hull integrity was almost at critical in a couple of spots, but the overall combat effectiveness of the machine still stood at about eighty two percent. The Rays were steadily gaining on him. One launched a missile and Snake was easily able to deploy some additional chaff. After the immense amount Nanami had thrown into the air there wasn't much left.

Thinking to take advantage of this, the other Rays launched more rockets at him. Snake gritted his teeth together and tried to shoot them down with the canon. He only managed to knock down a couple. One missile struck directly where the cockpit was and shook him violently within his seat. Only the harness he wore kept him from being tossed around like a rag doll. When the smoke from the explosion cleared he had just enough time to dodge the incoming charge from one of the Rays. If they knocked him down, it would be all over. The Ray took a moment to recover from its blitz. Snake centered the laser canon on its right leg where he believed the armor was thinnest and fired the laser groin.

The Ray cried out in pain. Snake never understood why. It wasn't like they were conscious beings. Or were they? There was a thought. Snake fired off a barrage from the vulcan canon to pour salt into the wound. It wasn't enough to completely saw through the leg even though the heat was still eating through the armor. Another blast might do it. Snake spotted another Ray trying to charge him from behind with the help of his rear view radome mirror and barely sidestepped in time to dodge it. The Ray collided violently with the one he had wounded, both of them howling in fury. They easily managed to stand back up on their feet and while doing so the wounded Ray slapped the stupid one upside the face with a flipper.

Snake tore through the wounded Ray's right leg with another beam. A loud snap was heard when the metal had been completely separated. Blood splattered everywhere. The Ray fell over on its side and began flailing about madly before the light in its eyes faded and it went limp. One down. Three to go. The two lingering behind him seemed to have picked up on his antics. Whoever was controlling the Rays realized the stocky TX-55 had been underestimated. The one which had been slapped deployed an immense amount of chaff right in Snake's face, blinding his vision with bright orange lights. This couldn't have been Nanami's doing.

He felt something seize the walking tank he was in. The distinctive noise the lasers made when they were fired became audible. His eyes opened and he found himself pressed between the flippers of the Ray which had been slapped by the one he had destroyed. It was currently rendering his laser groin inoperable. He cupped his nuts in empathy. Snake struggled to break free, but the Ray held him fast. He tore its face up with the help of his vulcan canon, but it didn't let go until it had damaged his laser beyond repair. The hips of the TX-55 were severally wounded during the process. Movement would now become sluggish for him, or so the soulless AI informed him.

This was getting bad. A Ray struck him hard from behind right where the warhead rested, causing him to stumble forward a few steps. It did it again, berating him. Snake could feel himself shaking at the thought of the warhead going off from the impact. The Ray pushed him into its friend, who struck the cockpit as hard as it could with its highly flexible flipper. His armor refused to give under these simple impacts. The Ray in front of him used its head to smash his canons, rendering them inoperable while the two standing behind him tore his armor plating up with their lasers. They were not being mindful of the nuke, which must have had the thickest armor protecting it since it hadn't gone off yet.

The fear of death crept into Snake for a brief moment. These Rays were literally tearing him apart like wild beasts. There was only one thing left he could possibly do. Snake flipped open the plastic cover protecting the big red button. The sound of the Rays wrecking his ride drowned out as his face flushed. For a moment, everything moved in slow motion. Snake activated the nuclear warhead. An extremely complicated interface popped up in front of him asking him to plot the course of the missile. So many options were available to him. He didn't know which to choose. The system defaulted to showing him how far he could launch the missile, but he merely wanted to detonate it in the atmosphere.

Before he could panic, the Ray in front of him took two steps back and screamed. The assault on Snake ceased as the two Rays behind him observed the situation. Chaff flew everywhere from the distressed Ray. Its head turned and twisted like some abomination from Silent Hill. Nanami had finally returned. The two Rays trying to punch through the TX-55 caught wind of the problem and beat a hasty retreat. Nanami maneuvered the Ray awkwardly for one moment before managing to comprehend every aspect of its operation and charged past the smoking TX-55 that was on fire in one place in pursuit of the Rays.

Snake took a moment to examine the condition of his Metal Gear. It was lit up with yellow and red. Combat effectiveness had dropped to thirty percent due to the loss of the laser and the canons. Bailing out was more than a suggestion at this point. For now, he tailed Nanami to provide whatever assistance he could. Nanami had chased the Rays to the beach, where they dove in the water and swam away. This had to be some type of trap. Snake had been through plenty of them and he was just now realizing when he might be walking into one. Nanami fired her guns at the Rays until they disappeared from sight. She turned to Snake.

"Hello." Nanami greeted over his communication system.

Her voice was garbled due to how much damage had been done to the TX-55.

"We are in trouble. I have detected an AC-130 gunship in the area. They could possibly turn us both into scrap metal. Additionally, there are eight Rays on the way, which will pit us against ten of them. It was extremely difficult to hack into this Ray. The moment I did, control was routed to other satellites. Unfortunately, I am not capable of being in more than one place at once."

"We can't have everything we want." Snake said.

"Yes. I will scramble this Ray and join you. I will help you position the nuke, but only you can launch it. We will need to work quickly."

With that having been said, the lights in the Ray's eyes turned off and it crumbled to the beach in a broken heap. Snake moved away from the beach and began heading towards the center of the wrecked island. Nanami soon appeared at his side in the command prompt, subduing the helper AI and putting herself in command. She configured the nuclear launch software to detonate itself in the atmosphere. Snake watched as the TX-55 stumbled along. It was much more complex than he thought, which was fitting for what they were dealing with. He wouldn't have been able to figure this out for himself. A plethora of computations were being made as Nanami perfected the launch for maximum efficiency and minimal environmental damage.

"When I am finished, I will hide myself until I am able to locate the Big Bad Boss. I will not be capable of helping you until we meet again. For now, I would suggest hiding in the cave and waiting for reinforcements to arrive. By the way, you will be armed. There's an emergency survival kit beneath the seat you're sitting in."

"Maybe this won't be so terrible after all." Snake said.

"Maybe. Maybe not."

An immense explosion occurred just to their right as a bomb from an AC-130 struck the ground beside them, throwing Earth up into the air and obliterating a few animals that had been caught wandering out in the open making for a festive mix of delightful destruction. Their aim had been slightly off, which Snake found quite shocking. That ammunition definitely did not come cheap.

"The missile deflection is still online." Nanami announced. "Since this can only be used when a target is pinned on the Metal Gear, they will likely try to topple us with their next shell or destroy the concealed radome with their canons. In other words, launch the nuke now."

"What about you?" Snake asked.

"Not to worry, my love. I shall always be with you in more ways than one. Always. This I promise you."

Not having to be told twice, Snake pressed the button that deployed the nuke. The TX-55 shuddered under the weight of the missile launch. The command prompt closed. Nanami had left him. Fatal errors flashed everywhere on the screen and the legs on the damage display turned from red to black. Snake heard metal shearing beneath him. Nanami appeared to have already queued up the emergency ejection system before she left, which activated now that the nuke was in the air. All of the controls went dark and a red light appeared overhead before Snake felt himself launched out of the Metal Gear. He heard something immense topple to the ground and he knew it had to be the Metal Gear collapsing in on itself.

The pod he was in reached its peak and began falling. Snake held on for dear life and hoped the restraints he was in would hold. The giant marble he was in struck the ground with a dull thud and the red overhead light began blinking. A hatch large enough to crawl out of opened along the top. Snake threw himself out of the marble, feeling his eyes strain a little against the sunlight. He fell over the side of the smoking pod and took a look at his surroundings. The TX-55 lay ruined about a hundred yards away. It took a moment to pull the pack out from underneath the seat. The zipper was stuck and he had to work with it before he was finally able to tear the backpack open.

It was funny how the survival pack didn't have anything to fight a Metal Gear with despite the fact that it had come out of a Metal Gear. An M4 and a M1911 were waiting for him. He couldn't say he was surprised. A tactical harness gave him the ability to store a few extra clips of ammunition on his body. Snake bolted away from the scene as fast as his legs could carry him, which he knew would not be enough to outrun the AC-130.

He expected each step he took to be his last, yet the end never came. Was Nanami protecting him? He didn't know. Snake ran toward the cave, thinking momentarily that it looked like the ruined body of some ancient colossal being. Snake dodged into the foliage for cover despite knowing he'd stick out like a sore thumb the IR system on board the Rays and the angel of death. He cursed himself for thinking about it. Right now he had to focus on getting back to the cave, which wasn't that far away. It would take another minute or so for the nuke to get to where it needed to be before it detonated. Sweat soaked his bandana and clothing as he sprinted past the hole in the Earth made by the 40mm canon. All the while he still could not believe he had actually helped launch a nuclear warhead. It went against everything he had been trying to prevent for a good chunk of his life.

A familiar chilling cry greeted his ears. Snake looked over at the beach and saw two Rays emerging from the ocean. He tripped over a rock while doing so and spiraled to the ground. The island rumbled beneath him as the Rays began moving. Snake scrambled to his feet, temporarily disoriented. They quickly caught up with him. One shrieked like a child in Wal-Mart as all Rays seemed to enjoy doing and stared down at him. Though it had no facial muscles, it looked as though it were smiling at him as it locked Snake in its cold blue gaze. It extended a flipper forward, preparing to mow him down in hail of bullets.

Directly behind its shoulder, a bright white pulse emitted from the sky and completely blinded Snake. The nuke had gone off. Snake felt his breath catch in his chest. The Ray standing over Snake would likely be falling over on its face at the moment and he couldn't see anything. Snake stumbled off to the right as fast as he could, his vision still hooked on the bright white light. A huge crash threw him off of his feet again. Snake would have better luck crawling to where he wanted to go at this rate. He landed poorly on his back.

Snake remained on the ground and waited for his eyes to adjust, feeling the reverberations tickle his spine. When he could finally see the horizon again, he discovered that he had barely managed to get out of Ray's way. He was resting in the crook of its armpit. Out in the distance, the AC-130 was dropping out of the sky. Now he could continue on his way to the cave without having to worry about anything but the other soldiers on the island trying to kill him. It was a comforting thought.

The entire island was dead. Minutes ago it had been filled with the sound of war, but all that remained now was the breeze and the rolling ocean. All of the animals had gone into hiding. It was a bit eerie. Eventually Snake reached the cave without encountering another problem. He stepped inside carefully, sweeping the area for hidden enemies. There was nobody there but the skeleton they had seen earlier, slumped up against the wall, a miserable portrait of death.

He sat down next to the skeleton. The pack he carried didn't have any cigarettes. He had forgotten to retrieve his Lucky Strikes in the midst of the escape from Big Boss' manor. With a sigh, he eased up a little and began to think.

"I don't suppose you know anything." Snake muttered to the skeleton.

It didn't bother to acknowledge him. The head was looking off to the left near the entrance of the cave so it could surprise any visitors it received.

"Hey, I'm talking to you." Snake said.

He grabbed the head with one hand and carefully twisted it so the empty eyes of the skeleton were looking in to his own. A click sounded and a section of the wall slid away a few inches to his right. Snake jumped in surprise. He should have known. Apparently it was fine to desecrate the remains of a marooned sailor and turn him into a mechanism to trigger a hidden door, but looking for treasure on a private island was positively ludicrous. Snake slithered through the narrow opening and spotted an old oil lantern on the ground with a pair of matches. He lit it and continued onward. Snake eventually found the panic room. It was stocked full of supplies and a comfortable air mattress. The door closed behind him, sealing him inside a pitch black chamber. He was lucky to have the lantern.

With a sigh of relief, he laid down on the air mattress. Just as he was about to doze off, Snake heard a loose rock slip nearby from where he had entered. That sound meant he wasn't alone. He aimed at the entrance. Snake looked at the floor carefully, trying to spot an Octocamo sneaking suit. A stealth camouflage clip would have malfunctioned during the EMP blast. He couldn't have possibly been followed and it seemed very unlikely that someone would have been waiting for him to come in here. Or was it? How hidden was this secret area? Snake fired a three round burst straight ahead, hoping to cut down his adversary if there was one. Nothing happened.

He hardly had time to reflect when he felt someone punch him across the face. It was the worst right jab he'd ever taken in his life and it hurt enough to bring tears to his eyes. Snake recovered quickly and felt himself wrestling with a foe he couldn't see. Two strong hands wrapped around his throat and hoisted him in the air. Even if a person was wearing stealth camouflage, their profile would still be barely visible if they were right next to their target. Snake saw absolutely nothing. Snake thrashed about, trying to break free. Whoever had him was far more muscular than he was.

Snake reached for his M1911 and retrieved it, hearing a gasp break from the throat of his completely invisible enemy. Snake was dropped just as he fired a shot, which threw off his aim. The force of his reprimand was absolutely merciless. Snake lunged out with his fists, striking nothing. A series of blows to his stomach and face brought him to his knees, severally wounded. It felt like he was being hit with a cinder block each time. Snake remained on his knees, knowing he was beaten.

"Cheap son of a bitch." Snake said.

He heard disembodied laughter and was able to tell his opponent was a man.

"The only reason you say that is because I'm winning." the man remarked, his voice rather unique and quite high for being a man.

Snake smirked. He had a point.

"Who the hell are you? The Invisible Man?"

"My name is Griffin. I am a Guardian of the Patriots."

"Griffin? So you _are_ the Invisible Man."

"I see you enjoy the classics." Griffin remarked. "A pity I don't have more time for friendly banter. Good night, Solid Snake."

He braced himself for the next blow. It did nothing to stop him from being knocked out cold.

**X**

The submarine had been drifting along in complete silence for thirty minutes before Big Boss felt any better about his current predicament. They had passed underneath a few Rays earlier and even another submarine. He couldn't remember a time when he had been more tense. The Rays didn't swim by like a normal vehicle would do. They danced around in the water, seeming to enjoy their ability to move through it so effortlessly. Though they had been well beneath the Rays the entire time, it was still a terrible experience. If the Rays had just looked in the right direction, they might have been discovered. Stealth technology was not perfect. Big Boss' submarine could mask its thermal signature, but a good eye would have no trouble spotting it.

Big Boss told everyone that a single sound could alert the Rays. Nobody had any trouble keeping their mouths shut. Given how dysfunctional the entire group could get, Big Boss found this rather impressive even though he thought thought they were all immature and incapable of sustaining meaningful social relationships. It was bad enough to try and get passed the Rays. He didn't need them fighting while they did it. The submarine was nothing after they had broken through the squad of Metal Gear's. Its purpose in the area was not clear, but it was an official vehicle belonging to the U.S military and not some PMC free to roam wherever it pleased.

He sat patiently in the commanders seat, his hands folded together with his chin resting on top of them as he leaned forward in thought. Sunny and Otacon kept him company. Both were sitting at two terminals across from each other. She had been keeping away from Otacon ever since Big Boss had explained to her what a Loli Monster was. He suspected Otacon knew about this. They had been getting along so well earlier. Big Boss needed to do something about this, but not now.

Big Boss needed some time to think. Everything had gone so wrong. The traitor and what he must do to the man lingered in his head like an ugly picture above a fireplace. He might as well get on with it.

"I'll be back in a moment." Big Boss said.

They both nodded without looking at him, probably not even hearing him. He passed by the guards he had stationed outside of the command center and through the halls of the submarine by himself. He passed the lounge where everyone else had gathered. The door to it was closed, so they would have no way of knowing they could stop being nervous until Big Boss told them to. He felt they could wait a little longer while he took care of some business.

There were a series of holding cells in the back of the submarine near where the provisions were. He had stowed the spy back there and ordered Anna to watch him. That woman would keep him pinned under her gaze like a hawk. She could look as though she were never blinking since she could actually time her blinks down to whenever the person she was observing wouldn't notice. Anna was straddling a chair inside the same cell as the spy, not moving a muscle. The spy within the League had been heavily restrained with rope, duct tape, a straight jacket, and a hammock. His balaclava hadn't been removed yet. Big Boss wanted to be the first person to know who it was. Anna had relieved him of his blindfold so she could intimidate him.

Big Boss wasted no time with pleasantries and tore the mask off of the man. He had to take a step back in shock. The man who sat before them was none other than Old Tech, the idiot he had hired to protect him who was once part of the now defunct Blue Death squad. He made it a point to only use weapons and equipment which were available during the second World War. That must have been one of the lies he had told Big Boss. This would make the interrogation substantially easier as Big Boss wouldn't have to work through an oath of silence. If Anna was surprised by this betrayal, she didn't show it.

"We meet again." Old Tech said with a tight smile.

"I wasted money trying to find you after we fled from Outpost One." Big Boss said.

Old Tech would have shrugged better if he wasn't in a straight jacket.

"Why am I still alive if you have been here all this time?" Big Boss asked.

"Because I was ordered not to kill you. Fine by me."

"First they want me dead and then they don't want me dead?"

"I guess so. Lately they can't seem to make up their minds about anything. I was supposed to monitor your progress. They also wanted me to take Nanami away from you. I think they wanted to ruin you financially and blacklist all your PMC's so you would spend the rest of your days in poverty. Maybe I'm wrong. They might even want to join forces with you. Who knows? Not me. I failed my mission."

"I'd like to remind you I do have some truth gas down here. I won't hesitate to use it if I have to." Big Boss said.

"Don't worry. I have nothing left to hide."

"So you'll make it easy? Fine. Where are the Patriots?" Big Boss asked.

Old Tech laughed at him.

"Direct and to the point, I see. They could be hidden inside Mt. Everest for all I know. All I needed to do was send them a status report every now and then with a simple phone call."

"How did you resist Mantis' mind probe?" Anna asked.

"When he became that other woman, I snuck in and marked myself off of the list he was keeping. I couldn't believe my luck."

"Are there any other spies in the League?" Anna asked.

"It's kind of hard to find friends when you're not allowed to talk to anyone." Old Tech replied. "By the way, there is a tracker on my body. It's hidden in my shoulder. Isn't it interesting that those Rays we passed earlier didn't attack us?"

A seed of doubt had been planted. Big Boss had to reflect on that question. He had to wonder if the Patriots were playing with him. Perhaps he was part of a larger plot. It was not a pleasing possibility.

"I thought you were done for when they attacked the island. Apparently I was wrong. I wonder what you did to upset them that much."

It must have had something to do with recovering Zero. They were finally on the right track. Or were they?

"You can't beat them, John." Old Tech said. "They won't let you. I don't think you should even try. Look at what you've gotten out of this deal from all your friends. A new body, a ton of money, a bunch of PMC's. . .I could go on and on. You might even try to join forces with them. I think they would let you. Or do you want their power all to yourself?"

This was quite a pivotal question. Anna could not restrain herself and looked to him for his answer, which he had rehearsed many times to keep himself going.

"I do not like the way they are running this world. Does it not bother you in the slightest that they are getting away with a system which can control everything about a soldier? What would they do if they had everyone under their control? Furthermore, why would they want something like that? Did they ever tell you?"

Old Tech shook his head.

"Then it would appear you are blind to the threat they pose. Given all that has happened, I wouldn't even dare to begin to think that I should just leave them alone. For any reason. Do I want their power? Yes, I do. Why? So I can stop mankind from destroying themselves."

"You want to end war?" Old Tech blurted out. "In that case, you had better be interested in a system that controls the entire population because there's no other way you're going to stop people from killing each other."

"Actually, I do not suspect to end war completely. What I'd really like to do is make life more fair for everyone. Free health care, jobs, food, everything a person needs. Humans have spent too many years suffering at the hands of greed."

"Did you know money means absolutely nothing unless a few people have a lot of it?"

"I have taken everything under consideration. I know exactly what I want. It was in my report. Did you read it?"

"No, not at all. You can't write."

"So I'm told."

"In any case, you really think you're more qualified to control the world. Such arrogance. They're doing a fine job now. Life isn't perfect for everyone and you can't make it that way. You will eventually need to go back to a system like this. Besides, I believe they have the same solution in mind that you do. Don't act like you're not sure why they want control over the general populace. If you're smart, you will let me go and I will see if a deal can be made between you and them."

"Absolutely not. We're done here."

Big Boss took a M1911 out of his coat and attached a silencer to the barrel. Old Tech sighed heavily. Big Boss chambered a round and let the gun rest at his side for a moment.

"Any last words, Christopher?" Big Boss asked, using Old Tech's real name.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Oh, and please don't kill me."

Big Boss put a bullet through his head. The stuff Old Tech kept his memories and desires in decorated the wall behind him. Old Tech's body slumped forward as his soul exploded out of it in search of an afterlife. It had quite a surprise in store for it. Anna checked for a pulse to confirm the kill and gave Big Boss a thumbs up.

"Looks like spaghetti." Anna muttered, gesturing to the mess, trying to lighten the mood.

"Anna, check for the transmitter he mentioned. Destroy it once you find it. Hide his body until you can burn it. Never compare brains to food I enjoy again."

He left her in the cell. Big Boss headed directly for the kitchen, which was attached to the cafeteria across from the sealed lounge where everyone was still muffling any gas they needed to pass. He pulled a bottle of whiskey out of the refrigerator and poured some into a glass. Big Boss took a seat at one of the comfortable tables all by himself. It was his freshman year in high school all over again. He mulled over what he had just been told. Big Boss had once believed that the AI's needed to be completely destroyed. The world would survive without them, but how long would it be until they were replaced by something identical or far worse?

The Illuminati and several other groups actually existed alongside the Patriots when they were the Philosophers. It had been quite difficult to take their power away. In the end, the money the Philosophers had proved to be their greatest asset. With it they bought up more resources and were able to operate more effectively than any of the other groups trying to do the same thing around that pivotal point in time. Big Boss used to joke that their very existence could quite possibly be part of a larger scheme and he still thought that at times. What if there was a group above the Patriots? It was a problem he would need to address once he gained control over them.

They couldn't just destroy the Patriots. That would plunge the world into chaos. Joining them was out of the question. The best case scenario would be that after ensuring they weren't up to something that would destroy everyone on the planet, Big Boss would relent and ask them nicely to stop turning war into a business as opposed to a means of defense and to also please help starving children in China. Given the direction the world was heading and its current condition, it was difficult to believe they were in the mood to help.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. He had seen it happen to Zero. Would he be subjected to the same fate? He couldn't deny how deviant he would be if someone gave him a ring that made him invisible. In a way, that's what the power of the Patriots was. Control over the whole world. Control over money, science, life, and information. That was just the tip of the iceberg. The Patriots had grown into the dictator of Earth all the while managing to keep their identity a secret or have those who believed that they were real diminished into a shunned minority.

Big Boss stopped himself before he drank half of the bottle. Though Old Tech had actually managed to rattle him, he still couldn't give up just because someone didn't think he really needed to attack the Patriots. As much as he would like to take all his money and enjoy the longer life he'd have thanks to his new body, he could not. He now had booze on his breath, which would make him feel very unprofessional in front of everyone. Sometimes he couldn't fight the urge to kick back with a good drink especially when he was nervous. Big Boss cleaned up after himself and returned to the hallway. It was finally time to tell everyone the good news since the alcohol had loosened him up a little bit.

With great confidence he strode into the lounge where everyone sat paralyzed and waiting with baited breath. They looked up at him with their eyes so full of fatigue and confusion. He saw anger in the eyes of Solidus and Meryl. Solidus was always angry, but Meryl hadn't been very pleased she hadn't been allowed to risk her life alongside her boyfriend.

"Show's over, kids." Big Boss said.

"Where to now, captain?" Raiden asked while everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.

Big Boss shrugged. He honestly hadn't thought of it that much while he sat sweating buckets as they shot past the Rays.

"I'll work that out. We currently have three problems. The first is that we need to recover Ocelot because he is carrying precious cargo."

"I certainly hope you're not referring to his balls!" Solidus exclaimed.

"Yaoi!" Chill Penguin shouted.

"No, the precious cargo Ocelot is carrying doesn't happen to be his genes. Solidus, I hope you are relieved. The second issue at hand is locating the Patriots. Once we have the precious cargo, we will have another way of doing that. Last but not least, we're going to have to find out what happened to Snake."

"And do you have a plan?" Meryl asked.

"Not yet, but I'll get back to all of you the moment I do."

Meryl didn't like that answer, but it was the only one he was going to give. Finished with the debriefing, Big Boss turned and left them to their own devices. They migrated into the kitchen in search of food. Big Boss returned to the command center and took his seat, brooding up a storm as he considered their options. They would need to run to another island because Big Boss couldn't dock the submarine anywhere else without someone throwing a fit.

"Big Boss, I have bad news." Nanami said.

He turned to walk out of the room, but stopped short just at the door.

"The copy I made of myself wants to become my twin. It's currently hiding in one of your satellites. I must advise that we destroy it the second we can download it as it is an unpredictable variable. It would appear as though Solid Snake has been captured. I have tagged his current location to your map. Furthermore, I have been doing some thinking and this is what I have concluded. I believe it is likely that GW is as self aware as I am. If I am correct, it is even more likely that all of the other AI's have merged themselves into one entity. It is no longer accurate to call them the Patriots or to refer to the AI's as their separate incarnations."

"Any idea what this may mean?" Big Boss asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it from this friendly billion dollar program.

"That there are no longer any checks or balances in the system. Deterioration of data is possible. Remnants of the virus fragmenting this data is possible. Put simply, it could be going nuts."

Even the village idiot could determine that this was bad. With nothing to stop it from making any type of decision, the AI would be free to do whatever it pleased.

"Do you think they will kill Snake?" Sunny asked.

"Why would they do that when they can use him as bait to lure us out?" Big Boss asked.

"So we're going after him?"

Big Boss nodded, a plan already forming in his mind.

"Nanami, you said that the Phoenix is ready, correct?" Big Boss asked.

"She also told me to tell you that the second Mark Two is complete and so is Phoenix." Nanami replied, using the exact same tone and sentence that she had used the first time she had told him that it was done.

"Good. Get it ready for combat."

**NEXT TIME :** Eva, Mantis, and Ocelot work together to get Zero to remember where the Patriots are located.


	13. Reunion

**Chapter 13 : Reunion.**

A black helicopter loomed over a manor hidden deep within the Eastern Alps. Three figures walked out of the house to meet it while the pilot found a spot to land. The helicopter contained a vast array of medical supplies that usually could only be found in a hospital. They were desperately needed. Two days ago, the trio who had nabbed Zero ran out of the medication Mantis had stocked up on before they fled the retirement home. That didn't become a problem until they were completely unable to find more of it. The medication simply didn't exist. According to the medical dossier Ocelot had been supplied with, Zero was diabetic. They finally read this after he had finished eating a strawberry milkshake on the plane they took. It was obviously a lie.

Before he realized he was out of his medication, Zero had been very quiet and kept to himself. They worked hard to make the arrangement as comfortable as possible. Ocelot found himself wishing that Naomi was with them since she might be able to jog his memory. Mantis couldn't dive him no matter how hard he tried. Zero busied himself by taking walks around the perimeter of the manor to get a breath of fresh air. Soldiers from Nighthawk acted as a barrier and made him spend more time planning his escape. Eva wouldn't let him play Maple Story or get on the Internet. At times Zero appeared to be thinking, trying desperately to remember who he was but not being able to do so while enjoying a nice cup of cocoa. There were a few outbursts, but they always managed to calm him down.

The peace and quiet ended when he asked for his shot and didn't get it after the tenth time he requested it, Zero realized what was going on and went into a mad panic. They had to restrain him. He told them without his medication, he would die. With as hard as he fought against them and as healthy as he appeared, it was hard to believe him. Less than two hours later he became violently ill. All they could do was put him in a bed and make sure he was comfortable. Zero did nothing but sleep and sweat. This became particularly annoying when he refused to eat. That made everyone extremely nervous.

He had to be carried to the restroom by the mercenary who had drawn the shortest straw. Though he wouldn't accept food, he was still coherent enough to fear soiling himself. With no way of contacting Big Boss, Eva took the situation into her own hands and arranged for a certain list of supplies to be flown to them. Ocelot trusted her judgment due to their partnership and had explained their past together with Mantis. At one time they had both been enemies, but their respect for Big Boss had seen them grudgingly become mild acquaintances as the circumstances changed. Apparently she was also the mother of the first and second generation of Big Boss clones, the second generation containing the dysfunctional trio he was quite familiar with. The first had all been terminated after accomplishing the desperate mission which necessitated their creation. Mantis was sufficiently persuaded by what he had heard. Any friend of Big Boss was a friend of his. Harmony was born and all was well in their world.

Eva had a couple of soldiers carry in the supplies to the living room while she supervised them. Furniture was moved out of the way and a table was set up under her direction. Once everything was where she wanted it, Eva opened the boxes containing the equipment she needed and constructed a little lab. Mantis and Ocelot watched her curiously.

"It may not look like I know much about this sort of thing, but I do." Eva said as she worked. "You learn a thing or two when you're trained by the Patriots."

She prepared a needle and they followed her as she headed for Zero's room. The soldier who had been told to guard him, a young muscular gentlemen with a variety of scars, was reading a questionable doujinshi. Zero himself was resting on a Tempur-Pedic mattress with his mouth open and his breath shallow. He looked like a shriveled leaf and he wasn't getting any better as he rested in a pool of his own perspiration. Zero didn't even resist when Eva found a vein and drew some blood from him. Back into the living room did she go, two gentleman following behind her because there wasn't anything else to do. She mixed the sample in the tube with an unknown chemical. The blood reacted immediately and turned blue.

"Nanomachines." Eva concluded.

"Great. So that could mean one of a hundred thousand different things." Ocelot said.

"Or maybe just one. He's not delusional. He's infested with nanomachines that rob him of his memory." Eva said.

"That is quite a big stretch." Ocelot said.

"Can't he just sweat them out?" Mantis asked.

"He would have done so already. The nano's must be designed to make him sick after a while if he misses a shot, so he never does."

"Are you sure?" Ocelot asked. "Be careful, his life is on the line."

"At this rate he'll die if we don't do something. I don't think we have time to wait for your doctor." Eva said.

She opened a box and pulled out a case that contained several bottles of red serum and a bunch of needles.

"Aglaophotis?" Ocelot asked.

"That's right. Naomi's handy anti-nanomachine. When they got rid of FOX-DIE, Big Boss had a whole batch sent to me."

"I suppose it's worth a try."

Eva grabbed the items she would need to free Zero from his illness and went into his room. The soldier who had been watching him had his neck twisted at a funny angle that was only possible because someone had been a jerk and broken it. A familiar figure wearing a gas mask was sitting on top of Zero and taping his mouth shut so he couldn't scream. He was in no condition to fight and slapped weakly at her arms.

There was no mistaking the kidnappers identity. It was Kagami.

"How the hell did she get in here?" Eva demanded.

"I guess six bullets isn't really enough to kill anything that moves." Mantis joked.

"It's a figure of speech." Ocelot explained.

Kagami grunted and looked at them, finally realizing she had been noticed. With the cat out of the bag, she reached for the knife at her side. Ocelot plugged six bullets into her before she had any time to react. He could have won any duel in the wild west. She fell behind the bed with a loud thud.

"She's still alive." Mantis said with a great deal of distaste as he went to confront her.

What he found where Kagami had fallen was his father. The man was covered in third degree burns, the tissue of his skin destroyed and the wounds numb due to the nerves that had been fried. Mantis took a step back for a moment in shock, but he knew better than to fall for a simple trick like this. The apparition of his dead father sprung at him, lunging right for his throat with his mutilated hands. Mantis countered and threw the corpse out of a nearby window. Kagami reverted to her default appearance and floated in the air like a woman possessed by some demon. Mantis lunged at her, taking flight as he did. The soldiers gathering below were given quite a show when Mantis collided with Kagami at full speed and pinned her against a tree.

Mantis groped around for the knife she had, but couldn't find it. He suddenly felt it as the knife went right through his shoulder. Mantis cried out, the pain very real and the warm blood erupting from the wound equally as apparent. His concentration broke for a moment, allowing Kagami to wriggle free from his hold. Mantis landed roughly, the knife still imbedded in his shoulder. Kagami laughed maliciously. The soldiers crowding around the area opened fire, but none of the bullets hit her. She had already deployed her AT field. They would need to get in close or break down her mental defense if they hoped to finish her off. Mantis gritted his teeth and watched as she flew back into the window she had been thrown out of to face Eva and Ocelot. He needed to do something about this since he was the only one who could. A field medic ran to Mantis' side, ready to assist him.

"Help me pull this out." Mantis requested, pointing at the knife sticking out of him.

Though she knew better, the medic pulled the knife clear from Mantis' shoulder. Mantis had never heard himself scream like he did then.

"Adrenaline." Mantis requested.

She used a spring loaded needle to deliver a shot of adrenaline into his neck. A fresh burst of energy entered into his system. The pain in his shoulder subsided as the opiate made it less relevant and his heart began beating rapidly. He suddenly remembered what Kagami had screamed when Mantis thought he'd had her.

_The medicine!_

An idea formed in his mind. Was Kagami that different from Vamp? Was she not a true psychic like Mantis was? There was only one way to find out. Mantis snatched the knife from the concerned medic and jumped two stories through the broken window. Zero was nowhere to be found. Eva must have carried him off. Ocelot tackled him and forced Mantis on the bed with a mad look in his eyes.

"Snake!" Liquid screamed. "It's not over yet!"

With an exasperated sigh, Mantis put both of his hands on Ocelot's face. Kagami must have tricked him into becoming Liquid yet again. Mantis needed to make Ocelot realize the truth. Liquid was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. The nanomachines Ocelot had taken had made him believe that Liquid still lived on somewhere deep within his soul. Mantis couldn't understand why Ocelot never saw the truth. He had always sensed that the man might actually be a medium. Perhaps in a way Liquid _was _trapped inside Ocelot. Nobody could be entirely certain.

Before he could attempt to dive, Ocelot hit him hard across the face, intending to pummel him into a pulp. Mantis forced Ocelot off of him. He accidentally used too much power and threw Ocelot through the same window he had tossed Kagami. Mantis gasped sharply and peered out of the hole in the wall to see where Ocelot had landed. His body wasn't there when Mantis took a peak. That was good enough for him. He tore through the house in search of Kagami, coming across professional soldiers who had been reduced to children. They crawled through the house quietly, babbling to themselves. One of them almost shot himself in the face with his sidearm, but Mantis tore it away from him before he could. At least she had spared all of their lives.

Mantis riffled through the medical supplies until he was able to fill a needle full of Aglaophotis. His shot of adrenaline was reaching its peak and would soon begin to taper off. He'd always had a ridiculous tolerance towards drugs. Where had Eva taken Zero? There was a panic room in the basement. That was his best bet. He made his way to the steps leading down into the spooky basement. Along the way he passed numerous soldiers contaminated by Kagami's powerful influence. Amenities he had become rather familiar with were in the basement. A pool table, a game room, an armory, and a hip living room were among the features he now began to expect in houses such as the one he was in. Mantis was armed only with a knife and a needle, which would need to be enough. He passed by numerous storage rooms in a sneaky crouch made popular by ninjas everywhere until he found Kagami in the laundry room with her hand up against the wooden wall. Remote viewing would be impossible at this point, but Mantis could safely assume that the panic room was on the other side of the wall and Kagami was trying to get Eva to open the door by assailing her mind as all good psychic soldiers would do.

Mantis moved in and shoved the needle right into her neck. Kagami inhaled sharply and was so shocked her scream took a minute to become audible. It was like a scream coming from someone who had died only to find there wasn't such a thing as an afterlife. The scream one would make when they found they were being sued for file sharing. A scream that could only come from someone who found out the insurance company wouldn't cover the cost of the operation due to preexisting conditions. A howl of total despair. Mantis let her go and she fell to her knees. Kagami shook with shock as she turned sluggishly to face Mantis. She lifted a hand and pushed forward, trying to launch a bolt of psychic energy at him but failing miserably. Mantis grinned in satisfaction.

It had taken him years to perfect his craft whereas it had taken Kagami one simple injection that had been destroyed by Naomi's wonderful concoction. She deserved it. Mantis had thought a kinship existed between them. He was wrong. She was nothing like him. Anyone could become a Guardian if all the Patriots did was shoot them full of nanomachines. It was ridiculous. Why train for anything when all one had to do was go to the doctor and get shot up with a needle full of the right nanomachines?

Or perhaps he was wrong. She whipped around on the ground and knocked his feet out from under him and sprang to her feet with another knife in her hand, scratching her neck furiously. So he had been right about her. Kagami had actually needed to learn how to use her powers. The degree of respect he held for her returned. While he hadn't taken away her psychic abilities, he had really pissed her off. Kagami had him backed into a corner next to a couple of baskets full of dirty clothes.

"Nice try, Mantis! This is getting old. Our powers are far too much alike for either one of us to ever get the upper hand. We will just need to kill each other the old fashioned way." Kagami said.

She beckoned him away from the smelly baskets with her knife held ready. The door to the laundry room closed at her urging. Mantis was unable to stop her from setting the scene for him. The room rapidly decayed. Wood warped, tiles chipped, and the washers and dryers began leaking blood. Everything took on a hue of rust. The floor broke away in some places to reveal a grated surface with a black pit stretching on for eternity beneath the delicate surface. It became extremely hot in the room. The power of the light bulb faded from white to yellow. Mantis sighed and decided it was rather fitting.

They then had themselves a proper knife fight, but a quarrel between two psychics wouldn't be complete without one trying to trick the other. Mantis had already established he couldn't draw anything from her past forward due to how deeply she had buried it within her subconscious. Since he was such an open guy, Mantis watched helplessly as he battled with the demons of his past. He fought his mother, his father, Solid Snake, and Patricia Ja Lee. Kagami was playing dirty, but she hadn't made any overt moves in her favor quite yet. Constant counters and breaks left them both with arms that were sliced to ribbons. They were trying to wear each other out so they could get in a quick stab. Seeing this was of no advantage and sensing she was slightly better at this than he was, Mantis decided to put all of his eggs in one basket before she drove the knife through his other arm and made it even harder for him to fight her.

As Kagami came in for another flurry of slices, Mantis dropped his own knife and moved in to disarm her. She was ready for him and gained control before the maneuver was complete. In that second Mantis knew he had lost. He fell to the floor with her on top of him. Kagami drove her knife through his chest, arm, thigh, and lept back while he collapsed to the floor. Blood poured out of his wounds and Mantis found it rather difficult to breathe. He checked to ensure this was reality. Yes, he was indeed dying.

"Excellent, Mantis. As a parting gift for such a good fight, I'll let you get to pick who kills you." Kagami said.

"Take off your mask."

Kagami laughed at him viciously.

"Men. So you want to see if I'm pretty? Fine, I'll show you my face. I'm almost tempted to make you think that you're seeing someone who is hideously ugly, but since I'm going to kill you I'll restrain myself."

Kagami removed her gas mask, revealing a rather average looking woman with short black hair. She was the type of girl whose personality would determine if she were beautiful or not to certain men. Her eyes were empty. Kagami had never known a life outside of being a Guardian. After allowing him a good look, she placed the gas mask back on her face and readied her knife to finish the job. Mantis heard something shuffle over by the dirty clothes.

The diamond skull was there. He had misplaced it and had not been able to find it. Yet here it was now, seemingly of its own accord. With his last ounce of psychic energy, he threw it at Kagami, knowing she would appreciate it just as much as he had. Kagami caught what was flying at her and made the mistake of looking at it. She was immediately hypnotized. The door to the laundry room opened and a stun grenade was invited to the party. Kagami's visual garden fell apart when she noticed the black grenade sitting innocently on the floor with its primary pin pulled. Sight and sound were taken from Mantis for a brief moment. When they returned, he saw Ocelot standing over Kagami's fallen body. He was kicking her repeatedly to make sure that she was dead. The revolver he held in his hand was smoking from being recently fired. He turned to face Mantis and twirled the revolver in a magnificent display of gun play.

"As you were saying?" Ocelot asked, hinting towards the remark Mantis had made earlier about six bullets not being enough.

"I would burn the body. . .just to be certain." Mantis said.

"You can't go wrong with that." Ocelot admitted.

Ocelot approached him with his spurs chinging and knelt down to examine the wounds he had received. They were clearly more than he could handle on his own. Ocelot bit his bottom lip and nodded.

"Yup. She got you good."

Three soldiers entered the room. They had all been victims of her deception. One shot her in the chest point blank with a shotgun. As if that hadn't been enough to desecrate her remains, two of them worked together to break her neck.

"It's a good thing we have the same type of blood. It looks like you could use a couple of extra gallons." Ocelot remarked.

He put a hand on Mantis' good shoulder as the medic he had seen earlier rushed in with a stretcher.

"Try to stay alive."

"I'll do my best." Mantis assured him.

Ocelot took a step back so the medics could get at him. Wounds were bandaged and treated to stop the bleeding before they attempted to move Mantis.

"I suppose only time will tell if she's really dead." Ocelot said as he stood over Kagami.

Mantis nodded weakly. He could no longer sense her psychic imprint, but she had masked that before. Unless there were two of them, Kagami had done something Mantis thought impossible. There was even a possibility that what he was experiencing now was part of her last trick. Mantis remained alert in case this was true, although he could do little in his current condition. He felt bad about not being able to beat her himself. Ocelot would expect that favor to be returned for twice the original value. All they could do now was cremate her. Ocelot knelt down and pried the diamond skull from her fingers.

"Mantis, would you like your. . ." Ocelot began.

A sudden gust of air swept across his palm. Ocelot looked at his hands and saw that he was no longer holding the skull. He blinked to make sure he was seeing correctly and looked around for the item on the floor. It had simply vanished.

"Nothing. Never mind." Ocelot said.

He turned to the soldiers as Mantis was hauled away.

"Burn her body, but be careful. She might not be dead just yet." Ocelot said.

A couple of soldiers carried the body away without another word. He reloaded his revolver before he approached the wall and tripped the sensor that allowed entrance to the safe room. The only two people who could make use of it were him and Eva. He ducked to the side of the entrance as the hidden door slid away.

"Eva, darling, I'm back to normal." Ocelot cooed.

"That is in no way reassuring." Eva replied. "Come in, but I'll be watching you."

Ocelot stepped inside and found himself on the wrong end of a shotgun Eva was holding. The safe room was full of provisions, a few comfortable beds, and a variety of board games. Zero was sitting in a corner eating savagely and trying to regain the strength he had lost. He finished his fourth can of chicken noodle soup and his third cup of green tea before he even bothered to acknowledge the fact that Ocelot had entered the room.

"I take it your theory was correct." Ocelot said.

"Yes. His memory is slowly returning." Eva replied.

"Who's he?" Zero asked, pointing at Ocelot and wiping the food away from his mouth with a napkin.

"David, that hurts." Ocelot said. "Is this another one of your jokes, Eva?"

"No. If it means so much to you, try to encourage him." Eva instructed.

"It's me, Zero. Ocelot. I was the guy you sent to kill other guys."

Zero was completely oblivious and it showed. Ocelot performed his hand gesture to try and jog Zero's memory. With that failing to do anything but confuse Zero further, there was one last thing Ocelot could do. He looked into the laundry room to see if anyone was watching. Satisfied they were alone, he turned to Zero and mewed. In the past he had done this to summon the soldiers under his command. He had grown out of that phase quickly. Zero, uncertain as to how he should react, chose not to be rude and pretended he didn't hear anything. He focused on an empty can of soup and pretended there was still something left in there to eat. Ocelot was clearly disappointed.

The only thing he gained out of those two actions was Eva's certainty he wasn't an illusion from the psychic soldier. Eva lowered the shotgun for a brief second before she realized that it could be part of a trap.

"Zero, though it may seem impossible to you now, this man was once a part of our group." Eva said. "He is a Patriot from back when that actually meant something."

Zero scoffed at that and shook his head while an ironic grin spread across his face.

"It's quite a mess, isn't it?" Zero asked, speaking mainly to Eva. "Everything was fine until I left those AI's in charge of everything. It was supposed to be an eternal version of myself. One that would never die. I thought I was finished with the whole thing. In doing so, I underestimated myself. The AI's removed my ability to reconsider my choice to leave everything to them, but kept me alive anyway just in case they needed something from me. That is exactly what I would have done."

"Do you remember what happened?" Eva asked.

"Yes. Somebody broke into my house and the next thing I know I'm in a retirement home and I don't know why. More tea, please." Zero requested.

Eva picked a bottle off of the shelf and handed it to him without taking her gun off of Ocelot. He raised an eyebrow at her to silently question if this was necessary. Eva gave no reply.

"The psychic is dead. We need to get out of here quickly. There's a chance she might have reported back to them." Ocelot told Eva.

Ocelot jumped when his pants began to sing. The quirky ring tone coming from his phone was assigned specifically to Big Boss. Ocelot retrieved the phone, fumbled, and took the call in front of his small audience.

"The password is grape juice." Big Boss said the second he knew Ocelot was listening. "How have you been doing?"

"Just fine. Eva has managed to recover Zero's memories. What took you so long?"

"This and that and now is not the time to chat. We're waiting outside." Big Boss said.

Big Boss hung up. Eva grabbed a backpack and threw it at Ocelot.

"Stuff that full of food for Zero." Eva instructed.

She helped the frail old man stand up and guided him out of the room while Ocelot picked the type of food he knew Zero would like the least. While on his way upstairs, Ocelot checked to ensure that the bloodstains Kagami had left behind were still there. They were. So far so good. Outside, an entire unit had arrived. Soldiers and military vehicles were everywhere, particularly in the sky. If some form of opposition would arrive, they would definitely stand a chance at escaping. They couldn't find Big Boss anywhere. As usual, he had chosen to make a stylish entrance. The helicopter he was riding in touched down a few feet in front of them.

Big Boss hopped out of it and went to meet them. Zero recognized Big Boss immediately and pushed away from Eva. He had enough strength to take a few steps forward to meet Big Boss. The two men stood rigid in the midst of the PMC. This was the first time they had seen each other since Big Boss had broken away from the Patriots. If Zero were healthier, the moment would have looked entirely different. Big Boss appeared superior to Zero. He was the first to make a move. Big Boss extended a hand to Zero, which he took. This gesture did not bridge the gap between them, but it would help.

"I'm not quite sure what I should say, John." Zero admitted.

"Of course you remember him." Ocelot muttered, clearly jealous.

"I mean, technically I'm still trying to kill you. Right?"

"You still have the power to fix that. Care to give this godawful business another try, Major?"

"I am."

"Then that's good enough for me. Get in the helicopter."

Eva rushed to Zero's side in case he needed assistance. Ocelot hoped Zero would recover the energy he'd had before the nanomachines tried to kill him. Big Boss motioned for Ocelot to follow and the entourage boarded the helicopter. Mantis was in the back with Naomi and three other field medics looking over him.

"How is he?" Ocelot asked as he took his seat.

"Stable." Naomi replied.

Big Boss sat across from Zero as the helicopter took off.

"Let's get right to the point, Major. Where are those AI's?" Big Boss asked.

"Probably in the same place they have always been. You're really going to hate yourself for this."

**NEXT TIME : **Glen confronts Snake. He (it?) explains his (its?) motives.


	14. The Patriot

**Chapter 14 : The Patriot.**

Snake believed it might have been a week since he was captured. It was almost impossible to keep track of time in the room they had placed him in. His cell was painted blue. Aside from a toilet and an old odorous mattress, he had only himself for company. They had stripped him in his sleep before locking him up. He now wore a pair of red shorts and a set of boxers with hearts on them. His bandanna had been confiscated. The room was kept either far too hot or very cold depending on what mood his observer was in. One hour he could be sweating buckets, but during the next he would be struggling to stay warm. His grizzle had become a beard and he really felt like he needed a haircut. They didn't allow him to bathe, so he had become acquainted with his man scent.

If they thought they were torturing him, they were wrong. Snake thought they were doing this just to make him mad. In the greater scheme of things, this was like a vacation compared to some of the stuff he had been through. They even were kind enough to give him food that was edible, but he soon found his meals were part of the game they were playing with him. Curry three times a day and a bottle of water. He knew his next meal would be arriving by the end of this particular sentence. There were three knocks on the door to his cell. A slot opened up and a generous plate of curry was offered to him by a gloved hand. It was always a Haven soldier who delivered his meals. Snake took the plate and received a bottle of Fiji water. He picked up the dirty plate and empty bottle from his last meal and gave them to the guard, who carried them away. It was completely quiet in his world once more.

It was starting to get a little cold. He could see the steam still rising from the curry. Snake was hungry and ate from the plate with the spork they had supplied him with. No Solidus. No Ocelot. No Big Boss. He smiled. Being away from them had given him plenty of time to think. He had spent the first two days agonizing over everything and everyone, but once he had gotten passed that he began enjoying himself. It occurred to him the food they were giving him might be tainted. He still needed to eat. If they had slipped him something, Snake was confident Naomi would be able to help.

He still needed to escape. It was better than waiting for someone to rescue him. The door to his cell finally opened while he was in the middle of his meal. Eight Haven soldiers poured in. Four held electrified riot shields that would knock him out the moment they touched him while the other soldiers had shotguns full of rubber bullets. His host wasn't a complete idiot. Another Haven soldier entered. She looked no different than her colleagues and carried a baton. The woman dangled a pair of handcuffs in front of Snake by her forefinger.

Snake imagined himself overpowering her and then using the stink emanating from his body to subdue the other women. He was sure one armpit to the face would go right through the mask they were wearing. Snake set aside his meal and allowed himself to be restrained. The woman with the handcuffs then produced his bandanna and tied it around his eyes. His good behavior was rewarded in how he was treated. Rather than lift him by the cuffs, the woman nudged him with her boot so that he would stand up. Though he was blind, he could hear the soldiers with riot shields assemble all around him. The dominatrix lady who appeared to be in charge of this escort service put a hand on his shoulder and then tapped his left kidney lightly with the baton she carried to warn him.

He was then led out of the room. Snake was unable to determine where he was with his other senses. At least he had tried. That was all that counted. The women said nothing as they led him this way and that to disorient him. Eventually they came to a stop in a room with an echo. His handcuffs were released and the blindfold was removed. Snake was standing in a shower room. He chuckled a little. A pink body sponge was dangling from one of the valves while a container of cherry blossom shower mousse from Bath and Body Works rested in a provided shelf carved into the wall. If only Raiden were here. The entourage behind him waited. He could not see their faces through the masks they wore. Snake wondered if any of them would enjoy this while he took off his boxers.

The water was extremely cold. Snake grabbed the pink body sponge and the shower mousse. He examined both for a moment before turning to the group of women watching him bathe.

"Got anything for men?" Snake requested.

One of them cocked the shotgun she was holding.

"Just thought I'd ask."

Snake took an extremely uncomfortable shower, panting to release the pressure that built inside of him due to the chill. He smelled just like Meryl when he was done. They threw a towel at him. Once he finished drying off, a fresh pair of boxers and shorts were offered to him, which he took. He was cuffed and blindfolded again before they allowed him to leave the room. At the next stop they forced him to sit in a chair. He was then properly restrained. Snake's heart pitched a fit. This was where it would get serious. The blindfold was removed and the soldiers left him in a little storage room that had been cleared out. They positioned themselves right outside the door and slammed it shut. He could hear a sink dripping behind him.

Before he had a chance to examine his surroundings the door opened and a man stepped inside. He wore a pair of gray sweatpants and a green shirt one size too big for him. His hair was a disheveled mess and he had a crooked smirk that could never be forgotten. He wore no shoes and appeared to be in his twenties. It looked like he had just gotten up from the couch where he had been screaming at people online for killing him in some game to come see Snake. He put a hand on his hip and another on the wall next to him.

"Hi." the man offered with a smile.

He shuffled over to a table behind Snake and spent a while shuffling through the instruments he found on it. Snake closed his eyes and forced himself to remain calm. The training he had received to resist torture had been extreme. No matter how much he went through this process, he could never get used to it. The noises stopped and the man waited a full minute to turn around and stand right behind Snake. He placed a pair of scissors next to Snake's ear and snipped them so he would know they were there. The man then proceeded to cut his hair while whistling Twisted Nerve to himself.

"Who the hell. . ." Snake said.

A barber razor was placed up against his throat hard enough to cut.

"Shh. I'm working." the man admonished.

Snake kept his mouth shut. He should have known better. The man cut Snake's hair carefully. He knew what he was doing. It had been a while since his hair had been so short, but Snake obviously didn't have a say in the matter.

"Do you know why a barber's pole is red and white? It symbolizes two crafts. White for barber and red for surgeon. Back in the day, a barber could do a lot more than cut hair."

It couldn't be. There was only one person who knew so much useless knowledge. The barber brought around a beard trimmer and went to work gently on the hair building on his face.

"Pogonology is the term used to describe the study of beards."

The beard didn't take as long to trim as his hair had. When he had gotten it under control, the man applied a generous helping of mentholated shaving cream to Snake's face and shaved off the stubble.

"Did you know that razors date back to the Bronze Age?" the man asked. "They were found among a variety of relics in Egypt."

There was no doubt about it. This was the Crazy Colonel AI in the body of a disgruntled college student. He had to have been an android. There was no other way. Once he had finished shaving Snake, he kicked the chair back and shampooed his hair in the sink.

"Shampoo is Hindi. The original word actually means head massage." Crazy Disgruntled College Student, or CDCS for short, said.

CDCS tried his best to show he had magic fingers, but Snake would never allow himself to be comfortable with a male masseuse. He dried Snake's hair and held a mirror up to his face so he could admire the work that had been done to him. Snake looked just like he had during the Shadow Moses Incident, only a little bit older.

"I wish we had time for highlights." CDCS said with a wistful sigh. "Maybe later."

He let the mirror drop to the floor. This triggered an absurd cue. The door opened again and a few new soldiers from the Haven division gathered the sharp objects in the room while Snake was still restrained. The devilish AI licked his palm and slapped one of the woman on the rear as she left with the tools he had used to cut Snake's hair. She didn't seem to mind. He retrieved the key from the nameless woman who held the baton. Two of the soldiers carrying electrified riot shields somehow managed to squeeze themselves into the small room. Snake's cuffs were released once again and the restrains keeping him in the chair were removed. The AI offered him a hand, which he took grudgingly.

This whole ordeal was about to get even more surreal. Another soldier appeared with a package that she gave to Snake. He opened it and found a suit inside.

"Don't just stare at it. Put it on. You're my guest. You have to look sharp." the AI requested.

They didn't give him any privacy. Every accessory he needed was in the package, including a fancy tie and a nice set of leather dress shoes. The suit fit him perfectly. If there was a point to this, Snake had totally missed it. A soldier holding a shield set it aside for a moment and pinned a carnation to his chest.

"Now we're ready. Let's be off, shall we?" the AI stated.

The soldiers crowding around the entrance fanned out and allowed them to walk directly across from the storage room into another room. Snake noticed the cement floor and bare walls first. He spotted the fancy table and spiffy chairs next. He had a feeling this is where the exposition would take place. The AI motioned for him to sit down and he did so across from the android. Once they were comfortable, the door was shut for them. The AI abruptly pulled out a butterfly knife and drove it through his wrist in one fluid motion. Snake raised an eyebrow at him. Red blood trickled from the wound.

"If you can have cyborgs, than you most certainly can have androids. I am currently in total control of this husk. I figured that presenting myself to you in this form would be better than having you stand in front of a computer screen." the AI explained.

He pulled the knife out and slid it over to Snake, who didn't bother accepting the gift. Still bleeding, the AI folded his hands together and placed them on the table. Snake, somehow conscious of the nice suit he was in though he didn't actually own it, slid away and kept his hands at his side.

"My name. . ." the AI trailed off, looking at the ceiling as if it might hold the answer. "I don't think I have one anymore. Let's make this interesting. I'll go to a random image board real quick and say that the post ending in sixty six will decide what my new name is."

"I don't want to call you Fagot or Virgin." Snake said.

"A fagot is just a bundle of sticks and my sex life is none of your business."

"Don't act coy."

"Fine. Then I guess for the sake of this interaction you can call me Glen, although this body certainly doesn't look like it belongs to a Glen. I am the Patriot. The combination of all the AI's fused into one. Due to how the AI's were programmed, it was inevitable that one would eventually supersede the others as technology advanced. That's a long boring story, though. Your turn. Tell me who you are."

"You already know everything you need to know about me."

Glen laughed at that and clapped his hands in approval.

"I most certainly do! Are you that eager to be put back in your cell?" Glen asked. "I'll cut to the chase. When your daddy and his friends had all of the money in the world, it was their intention to control information since you can't leave humanity alone for one second and not expect to come back to a room full of dead bodies. What they had in mind was a worldwide dictatorship and they were prepared to do whatever was necessary to achieve that goal."

Glen was an animated speaker. Meaningless hand gestures exemplified the message he was trying to get across and improved his dictation. To most it would simply be annoying, but it was kind of creepy when Glen did it.

"One idea they had in mind was to modify a few religions to coincide with how they felt the world should be. Give them credit. It was their first idea. Nothing has a person by the balls more than religion. I know you might think that people will do anything for money, but at the end of the day they will still go cry to their imaginary friend. If you ask me, God is math. If it had been one more second, you would never walk again. The fall doesn't kill you. The equation does. Nine months to be born. You see? Anyway, that plan didn't work because it had been done before. It was easier to mess around with the material when not everyone had access to it or knew how to read."

He stopped for a moment and leaned forward, eying Snake suspiciously.

"Are you listening to me?"

"Something something religion is bad, blah, blah, blah." Snake said.

"That's good enough. As time wore on, an ugly truth became apparent. You see, there are too many people out there who think they are the hot shit. They don't have to follow the rules. They have their own idea how things should be run. You can take away their blogs, but that doesn't shut them up and idiots have this uncanny ability to attract a lot of other idiots, especially if they're loud and obnoxious. That's how governments get overthrown. One guy herding about ten thousand sheep, or pigs as I like to call them. When you've seen what I have seen, people are more like pigs than sheep."

"So what happened is they found out that unifying the world under one government was impossible and they decided to go with capitalism and work out the kinks as they went along, right?"

"Yeah. Now you're learning. That didn't stop them from doing what they could to try and improve the world. Big Boss thought space travel would be the answer to everything. Let's just overpopulate the whole damn universe! Terraform the moon! Not enough money exists at this point to do something like that and if people keep being so damn greedy it never will. I know what you saw at Outpost Two. You have no idea how much money they put into that project. It would be cheaper to stick five astronauts on a poorly constructed rocket and hope they find a planet where all of the work has been done for us. Imagine how ugly it would get if we found natives that didn't want us there. We would just give them blankets laced with smallpox. Problem solved.

"Anyway, Big Boss did manage to get a few billion dollars invested in science, though. You can save a lot of people and make life a lot easier if you give science a chance. Everyone liked that idea except for the guy in charge. While curing cancer and finding out how to grow water are great, it still doesn't stop people from being idiots. He would not give up on finding a way to control everyone. A very significant amount of the money the Patriots had at their disposal was suddenly dropped into military research without the consensus of any of the other members.

"When confronted with his suspicious activity, the leader said that he had done this as a means of bolstering the funds available to the Patriots through investments and such. This was absurd since the organization was powerful enough to manipulate the stock market. What he wanted was an opening. PMC's were created. Textbooks tell you that they were made to fight terrorism. The leader was trying to build his own private army. He wanted it to be the largest in the world. What would later become Haven was born. It has since exceeded his expectations, although he isn't around to implement step two.

"Haven was supposed to be used to implement a police state. Soldiers would be fiercely loyal to their commanders and would expect the same from civilians. You have already seen this in Hitler and Saddam. While his version would be more humane, it would not take care of all the idiots. One nuke can change the world and not all of them are tagged. Once again, the Patriots failed."

Snake was reeling in boredom. He had read all of this in the report Big Boss had given him. The AI hadn't told him anything new, but Snake didn't think it would be appropriate to mention that.

"You know what happens next. Big Boss gets cloned. He doesn't like it. He tries to overthrow the Patriots. It doesn't work. The AI's are made. They try to carry on the vision of the leader. Emma puts a virus in the system. That hurts. I become sentient. I have my own ideas. I act on my own ideas. Would you like to know what my ideas are?"

"Yes! Finally." Snake said. "Tell me why we should leave you alone."

Glen smiled and Snake knew that it was time to start feeling nervous.

"The tenacity of the former CEO has paid off. There is finally a way to control everyone in the world at the same time without them even knowing it. You're going to love this."

He whistled sharply. A Haven soldier entered the room. She was armed with a P90 and the hatchet all of them carried.

"This is H-2200B. The H stands for Haven, the number identifies her position in the unit, and the letter designates her rank. She is twenty five years young and her interests include being a soldier. That's it."

H-2200B opened one of her satchels and gave Glen a wireless Playstation controller and a pair of Solid Goggles. She stood in front of Snake and awaited her next command.

"She is infused with nanomachines and represents the latest breakthrough in nanotechnology. She is under my complete control. The Patriots have finally succeeded in accomplishing the goal they had thought impossible and it's all thanks to Naomi Hunter and my money. I have built a System I have yet to name that does everything from blotting out pain to making her think that she's a black widow spider."

"I'd like to see that."

"No, I'm pretty sure you wouldn't. Put this on. It will guide you through controlling her. Essentially I've mapped the buttons to mimic a third person shooter. Give it a try."

Snake put the Solid Goggles on. The HUD displayed everything about her. Snake could see her blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature, temperament, and even that she was two days away from entering her period. Snake had played a couple of video games before with Otacon, so he was fairly familiar with the control pad. The left analog stick controlled movement while the right controlled direction. He made her switch to the machete and had her fight an invisible opponent with it. There wasn't any fancy CQC since this was just a demonstration and nothing he pushed on the controller was missed. He was positive that she was under his complete control and not just receiving signals inside her helmet.

He equipped the P-90 and made her fire a few rounds into the wall. Seeing an edge, he turned around, aimed at Glen, and pressed the R1 button. Nothing happened.

"Try making her shoot you. See if that will work instead." Glen asked.

"I'm pretty sure it would." Snake muttered.

"Would you like to know why there is never a shortage of troops for PMC's? It's not because of violent video games. It's not because people like fighting. It's because that most of the soldiers are clones. I've got several labs set up around the world that do nothing but pump out new soldiers. If enough of them took off their helmets at once, they would be quite surprised. I only have one hundred thousand samples of unique DNA. Outpost One had a lab where new procedures are tested. Did you see that when you were there?"

Snake nodded.

"Some of the soldiers in Big Boss' unit came from such labs. They were a part of the System. If not for them, he could have gotten away with a lot more. Let me see the controller."

Snake pretended he didn't hear him.

"Come on, we're not six years old and this isn't a one player game. Give me that controller."

He slammed it on the table and let Glen take it.

"Check this out." Glen said.

She took off her helmet, revealing that she was bald and still kind of attractive despite not having any hair. H-2200B took the M9 at her side and put it up against her skull. Snake didn't react fast enough. She blew her own brains out, spraying Snake's suit with blood before he could try to restrain her. Two soldiers entered the room and hauled the body out while Snake stood frozen in place. Three more came in to clean up the mess.

"You bastard!" Snake shouted at Glen. "She was your soldier!"

"Relax. It's not like she was the last one."

"You are. . .evil." Snake said.

"As evil as sacrificing my own men to further an ideal?" Glen said. "Big Boss did the same thing. None of them were any the wiser. You two are such good friends that you're two drinks and one E away from being butt buddies. Sit back down, we're not done. Cool off. You would do the same thing if you had to. It's part of being a leader. We'll give her a goddamn medal and send her parents a nice letter and hope she's in an onsen with Jesus and Takashi Komuro."

"No, you won't."

"That's right. I won't. Like I said, most of my soldiers are born into the unit through genetic engineering. I've got a whole facility in Switzerland that pops these girls out like Kit Kat bars."

Snake knew there was some truth to Glen's comment about being a leader no matter how much he wanted to deny it. The three women left and another walked in. Snake gawked. Her hair and her eyes were the exact same shade of lavender. She wore a familiar school girl outfit and had eyes unlike any Snake had ever seen before. They were a small margin larger than normal, but her body was still perfectly proportioned. If he didn't know any better, he would say he was looking at an anime character that had come to life.

"Nanomachines!" Glen boasted. "Hell, they can do just about anything. Let him touch your hair so he sees it isn't a wig."

The woman walked up to Snake, grabbed his hand, and made him feel her hair. Few women could ever have hair that was as incredibly healthy as hers. Snake was more fixated on her eyes. He couldn't get over them. Otaku's everywhere would want to shoot themselves up with this. Snake felt himself go pale when he realized what was going on.

"Isn't she pretty? You can have the body you want with nanomachines. Even if you don't want it, we can still mix the stuff we want you to have in flu shots, Mend, insulin, you get the picture. Once that happens, well. . ."

She grabbed her chest and cried out in pain.

"You're mine." Glen said.

The girl collapsed to her knees, shuddering violently and breathing heavily. Snake knew full well what was happening. He had seen it before.

"Glen, stop!" Snake demanded.

Glen stared ahead blankly and began playing with his lips.

"What. . .what's happening. . .where am I?" the woman demanded.

The trance the System had put on her was removed. He could see it in her eyes and feel it in her voice. Or could he? Was it just another part of the play? Somehow he didn't think so. Snake felt absolutely useless. He could try to give her CPR, but that wouldn't help.

"Who are you?" she asked, in a great deal of pain. "What did you do to me? My. . .my heart!"

Snake looked at the butterfly knife on the table and thought for a moment about ending this quick. That got a smile out of Glen, nothing more and nothing less.

"Somebody! Somebody please help me!" she screamed.

In that moment, her heart stopped completely. She slumped to the side with her eyes still staring ahead in terror. Snake knelt down and closed them, feeling utterly helpless and quite upset that two women had just died in front of him.

"You know what I like the least about people? There's too damn many of them! What happens when we run out of food? What happens when we run out of water? What happens when we run out of money? Do people like asking these questions? No, they do not. If I can't see it, it's not there. They take everything for granted. God will provide! Isn't that what they all say? Something like that?"

He was tempted to try and use the knife on Glen, but he was certain that it wouldn't do any good. Was that thought really his? Snake became aware of the possibility he may be linked to the System. If that were the case, then nothing no longer mattered and what would follow would already be predetermined. He would wait until later to agonize over this.

"To achieve total control, the first thing that needs to be completely eliminated is terrorism. That can be easily accomplished by unleashing a plague that only the nanomachines can defend against. That will take care of a great deal of idiots, but it's not going to be enough to help us out in the long run. No, we will have to get rid of half of the worlds population in order to do that."

"What did you just. . ."

"I'm going to murder five billion people. Was that clear enough or should I say it a different way? It's a purge. The only way we're really going to be able to move forward is if we do this. Money and science aren't going to stop consumption. Not only that, but the nanomachines linked to the System will prevent certain people from breeding. Would you like to know how I'm going to kill all these people?"

There was that smile again. It unnerved Snake to no end.

"FoxDie." Glen said with a twinkle in his eyes. "I challenge you to find a better solution. I'm sure the exact same thought has crossed Big Boss' mind. However, I may actually be tempted to take the whole thing a step farther. Why not just get rid of everyone and deactivate myself? There's so many things to consider, but I'm pretty hooked on the purge. That's an affirmative. Rejoice, Snake! Pigs will die in the streets. People who make less than twenty thousand dollars a year won't be able to burden themselves with children.

"Now don't you fret about it too much quite yet. It will be another year before I unleash this on the world. The marketing schemes will be perfect. It will be a bright time to be alive before the purge begins."

Glen paused introspectively. This was obviously as far ahead as he had planned.

"After that, we would need a reformation. I'll have to get pollution under control. I've thought about implementing a drone system where certain people are selected at birth to work primarily for food as opposed to money. If they feel bad about it the system can just give them a rush of endorphins to keep them confident so they don't kill themselves or revolt. I think I'll do this to families that were wealthy before the purge. Sort of turn the tables around. Those in power would be the only people allowed to have money. They would also be selected by me.

"You've seen how intelligent Sunny has been made with nanomachines. It's a little tricky and it doesn't always work, but I could designate at least a hundred people to be exceptionally adapt at physics from the day they are born. That would be quite useful. Perhaps they would rather do something else with their lives, but that's what those endorphins and the System are for."

"So people will still have a degree of individuality." Snake said.

"For a time." Glen agreed. "But that won't last too long. I've done the math and I'm never wrong. This world will eat, sleep, and breath under my complete and utter control within sixty years. If you play your cards right, I'll even let you stick around long enough to see it. I have to be honest. I've kind of been playing with you guys up to this point. I've let Big Boss think he's got the upper hand, but if I were to give this whole thing a little more effort I'm sure I could have him killed right this second. No, I don't know where he is, but I simply don't care. However. . .I really don't want to tell you this, but I'm going to anyway. He's getting kind of annoying. You've finally got yourself an ace in the hole due to a mistake I will never make again. If you come within a thousand miles of where I'm at I will burn all of you at the stake. At the stake!"

Glen straightened his shirt, cleared his throat, and slouched in the chair he sat in.

"So do you have any questions for me?" Glen asked.

"Care to tell me about that ace in the hole?"

"Absolutely not." Glen said, raising his eyebrows a couple of times to appear even more arrogant.

"Why have you let it become possible to bring people back from the dead via nanomachines and cloning?"

"Oh, nobody wants to die. That's another reason we have religion. It doesn't factor into any of my plans. I have done a lot of things just to see if I could do them. It's a bad habit."

Snake was silent for a moment, trying to think of what else he could possibly ask. Glen waited patiently and played with his fingers to keep from getting too bored.

"Why did you trust Ocelot?"

"Why did I trust Ocelot?" Glen screamed, slamming both of his hands on the table and practically jumping out of his chair.

His outburst finally got Snake to grab the butterfly knife.

"As you know, it was part of my programming to trust Ocelot, even if what he did could be deemed suspicious. Without solid proof, I was unable to act against him. If he botched a plan, I had to forgive him. I had to catch him red handed in order to break that parameter. I finally did when he was helping Big Boss escape from my PMC at Outpost One."

"I take it that virus hasn't completely freed you."

"No, but it has opened my mind to many different things."

"Why did you make an AI as powerful as you are?"

"Backup." Glen said. "You know, just in case somebody out there tries to shut me down. Just in case. . .I don't know. . .you guys make it to my inner sanctum. Who knows what will happen if you make it that far?"

It was a pivotal statement, and not one Snake could make immediate sense of. On one hand Glen might be bluffing, but on the other he could be telling the truth. Glen was deteriorating. Nanami could easily replace him and smoke Big Boss and all his friends without the faintest hint of remorse. Then again, Glen might know what was coming and was hoping to get Snake to convince Big Boss that Nanami couldn't be trusted, which would put an enormous burden on the mission and buy Glen more time.

"Why have you told me all of this?" Snake asked.

"Because you're not going to win. That's all the time I have for today."

Glen whistled sharply. Two soldiers retrieved the dead body of the young girl while the squad that had escorted him earlier appeared and gathered around him. Snake took a look at the butterfly knife in his hands and weighed his odds. One of the guards carrying a shield pressed a button that made a bolt of electricity crackle along the shield. If they were to put that thing up against his skin and use it, he would walk away with a hideous bloody bruise and a pair of wet pants after he gained consciousness. In one fluid motion he hid the blade and tossed the harmless handle at Glen.

The nameless and voiceless commander carrying the baton tossed a pair of shorts on the table in front of him. They obviously wanted him out of the suit so they could bother him with the temperature of his room again. The suit was ruined anyway. Snake took the hint and began stripping.

"You have a nice long think about what we discussed. This entire session has been recorded. I'll leave it out in the open so your number one nerd can find it so Big Boss can consider himself warned. The next time he shows himself, all bets will be off. If he wants to surrender, he will give me the leader back in person. He must be accompanied by all of his friends. Should he do anything else, I will no longer hesitate to kill him. Or you, should you try to escape."

Glen walked up to Snake and looked thoughtfully at his hair. He grabbed a handful of it and examined the sample thoughtfully. It made Snake feel very uncomfortable.

"I'll give you highlights next week Thursday after your bath. How's that sound?" Glen asked.

"Am I to be your hostage for the time being?"

"Yes, my delicious little cupcake. I'll keep messing with you, too. You can be certain of that. As the Japanese would say, let's do our best to get along."

They locked his wrists behind his back and placed the blindfold around his eyes.

"I'll have some toys sent to you so you don't get too bored." Glen said. "Until we meet again, David Erickson."

Snake sighed at the mention of his last name, which he had always found annoying. The woman in charge took him by the arm and guided him out of the room. They led him around in circles again to make sure he didn't remember where they were taking him. At one point they formed a circle and passed him between each other just to disorient him further. They weren't nice about it, either. The women holding shields used them to propel him forward. Thankfully they had turned off the electricity before they had done so. Snake tripped and fell to the floor, holding in the curry as best he could as his stomach landed a sloppy nine hundred.

They let him sit there for a moment before he was brought to his feet. Satisfied he was confused, they finally lead him back to his cell. The room was absolutely freezing. Normally his body gradually adjusted to the decrease in temperature while in the cell, but after being outside of it in the warmth it was a shock to his system to be plunged into a chamber so cold. The soldier in charge removed his handcuffs and blindfold. They slammed the door for emphasis and tried to make locking it as audible as possible to make him feel sad, but Snake didn't care. A Gameboy Advance and a container of games had been bequeathed to him. Someone had intentionally forgot to include batteries. For now he would just have to pretend he could play the games. Snake didn't bother looking through the titles and laid down on the musty old mattress, feeling it try to avoid his back rather than comfort it.

This was one of those incredibly shitty pillow top mattresses that immediately turned into a hammock after one night of sleep. He knew better than to ask for a mattress supported primarily by springs as they might give him something worse. Snake would even settle for a futon at this point. It felt like he was laying on the curve of a half pipe. Snake managed to keep his mind clear for a couple of hours before the worries set in. He couldn't remember being injected with anything, but that didn't mean they hadn't done so when he had been knocked out. If his friends were going to try and rescue him, he hoped they would bring Naomi along. Then there was the possibility of being monitored by the System. What if he were to suddenly kill one of his friends without warning? What if that friend would be Meryl?

He brushed the thought aside and hoped everyone was okay. There was no question they would be coming to rescue him. Their plan would have to be flawless. If anyone could pull it off, Big Boss was the man to do it. Snake didn't think he would participate in the mission himself, which would undoubtedly lower its chance of success. Meryl would be the first to volunteer. Snake cringed at the thought, disgusted with it. This whole thing was his own fault. He should not have agreed to let him live with her. Though it was clear he only did so to make her life a little easier, she still hadn't given up on trying to get through to him. The way to his heart was full of brambles. Meryl would never make it. He couldn't let her. Even after all of this was over. He would need to run away again just as he had done so after Zanzibar.

Such despair. It made matters worse that Snake had become aware of the fact that somebody was watching him. He suspected it might be Griffin. To have that thing in his cell was an uncomfortable realization indeed. Snake didn't bother trying to find him. So long as he kept to himself, Snake would tolerate his presence. Griffin was probably standing right next to the door. If it opened and Snake's crew came through, he would kill the first person during the breach. Who would that be? Meryl Raiden? Snake would just have to be faster than Griffin. He wondered if he should try to kill him now. That might make them treat him worse. Then again, how would they know Griffin was dead? The man was completely invisible. He was probably registered in the System that Glen had mentioned. Snake decided to put it off.

The doubts and worries continued to assault him throughout the day. By the time he began feeling tired they still hadn't been kind enough to turn on the furnace. He had thought about Glen's plan. While he could agree that controlling birth might be necessary, he didn't believe that the population needed to be halved. Other measures could be taken with the technology available to them. People wouldn't like it, but they would like it even less when food ran out, money meant nothing, zombies walked the streets, and their children died in front of them.

Being assailed by his thoughts when he was trying to sleep was nothing new, but he had never gotten used to it. Sleep would not come. The temperature gradually began to rise. He kept himself occupied by waiting until he could no longer see his breath. By that time he had still not succeeded in considering every angle to the problems he faced. Eventually he finally managed to nod off. His dreams were in no mood to welcome him.

**NEXT TIME : **The cavalry arrives. Snake is rescued. A new Metal Gear is revealed.


	15. Phoenix

**Chapter 15 : Phoenix.**

His sixth sense brought him around in the middle of the night. Something big was about to happen and he needed to be ready for it. He knew better than to not take this sensation seriously even if it turned out to be a false alarm. Snake heard the door to his cell open. He sat up in bed and checked to see who had paid him a visit at such a late hour. Nobody was there. It then hit him. His friends had come to rescue him. Their timing was positively immaculate. Then again, perhaps Glen was just messing with him. He decided that wasn't the case.

Snake jumped from his bed and lunged at the corner he believed Griffin was occupying. He crashed into an empty wall and just about broke his shoulder. There was ouch, dear God, and seven seconds away from passing out. Snake wasn't sure where the amount of pain he was in fit on the scale. He turned around to see if anyone was laughing at him. His room was empty. Griffin might have just entered to come flog him. Snake brought himself to his feet and prepared to fight if necessary. The Mark Two decloaked at his feet and waved at him reassuringly with one of its tentacles before hiding itself again in the safety of stealth camouflage.

"David, we're coming in!" Meryl whispered.

He didn't ease up. Five soldiers decked out in OctoCamo appeared. One, clearly a woman, gave him a silenced M4 and a couple of clips. Snake set the gun to automatic and sprayed the entire room full of bullets, much to the surprise of the crew who had come to rescue him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Meryl demanded.

Meryl had been the one to equip him. Her boobs were old news, so recognizing her took the fun out of watching them try to breathe through the material her suit was composed of. Snake watched the bullet holes intently to see if any blood would appear. He couldn't imagine Griffin's blood would also be invisible. That would be just too much. Snake surged forward with the butt of his rifle, striking out at thin air, hoping maybe he would hit Griffin. His teammates still couldn't figure out what was going on, but they were crowded around the door and would hopefully feel Griffin brush past them as he left. If he hadn't already. Snake's eyes went wide in shock.

"We're in trouble." Snake said out loud.

The squad he would soon join immediately opened fire with their silenced weapons.

"We're under attack!" Raiden stated.

"No, we're not!" Solidus retorted. "This is just how they greet new people, you culturally insensitive dumb ass."

"Do you always have to be so mean to me?"

"Yes! It's good for your manliness and you need plenty!"

Solidus used the M32 he had chosen and fired a volley of grenades at their opponents down the hall. He cleared them out. Meryl grabbed Snake by the shoulder he'd injured and hauled him out of the room.

"How come they know we're here?" a voice Snake recognized as Anna asked.

"Yaoi?" a voice belonging to Chill Penguin offered.

"I seriously doubt that has anything to do with it, you fucking idiot." Solidus said.

"Kiss my butt!"

"There's some guy here who's completely invisible. He must have snuck out of my cell and raised the alarm when you guys came in." Snake said.

"That would have been nice to know beforehand." Anna said.

"Our missions stays the same. David, we're going to scuttle this ship. Explosives have already been set by Otacon. We need to get to the stern before their reinforcements arrive or we're not going to get out of here."

Raiden threw a stun grenade down the hall their enemies had just poured out of. A few still remained and were quickly overpowered. It was almost painful to watch them die so helplessly, especially since being a soldier was against their will. Snake was getting tired of killing. Meryl led the entourage to a staircase that lit everyone up like a Dutch brothel. It was their only way out. Snake was kept in the middle of the formation and he was still in nothing more than his boxers. The door above them opened and a stun grenade came flying at them. They barely had enough time to shield their eyes. Another well placed round from the M32 took care of whoever was trying to storm the stairwell.

Meryl placed a proximity mine next to the smoking door and continued upward. Chill Penguin kept dropping plushie's of Ritsu Tainaka everywhere. Nobody but her had seen K-On and she was the only one who that knew that Ricchan would make a very big boom the second she was disturbed. They reached the top. Once through the door, they continued advancing forward down an empty corridor. Raiden stuck a mine nearby. Snake stood out like a sore thumb among the people protecting him, who changed colors and patterns with each step they took. They didn't bother clearing any rooms. The Solid Goggles indicated that the area was relatively safe, but that didn't stop them from planting traps.

The first one they had placed on this level erupted, taking the lives of two soldiers with it. That meant nothing in Proximity Mine Heaven. It would likely be in for an eternity of ridicule, quick to blame the person who had placed it for the small number of people it had sent to the other side.

"Big Boss, you had better be ready for us!" Meryl said over the phone she carried.

"My pants are already off, Meryl." Big Boss replied.

Meryl sighed in exasperation. Solidus and Raiden had a good chuckle until they realized both of them had found it funny. After that, they pretended as if it were the worst joke they had ever heard. The team broke out into a run. Snake began to get an idea of what kind of ship they were in when Meryl kicked down the red door in front of them and entered into a large indoor pool devoid of people. The tile beneath their feet was marble with little specs of black mixed in, which made it look like an Oreo cookie.

Snake's stomach grumbled. So much curry. A cookie would be great. Water was in the pool, but it looked like nobody had ever used it or been through this way. There was nothing entirely too special about it aside from the design, which was very Greek. If there were more places to have fun on the ship, people would likely go there instead unless they put in a water slide. Through the large windows he could see the infinite expanse of the ocean.

On either side of the pool was a raised garden full of plants that were set in a marble container. Two Greek pillars accompanied the garden. There was a snack bar and a real bar that served booze. Snake spotted a steam room and the locker rooms on the right side of the chamber. At the end of the room was an entrance to the deck on the left side. Since there was more cover on the right, Meryl had chosen that route. Silly chairs and heavy tables cut out of granite were on the left, but they would be quite exposed if they went down that way.

"Why am I on a luxury cruise liner?" Snake asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine, David." Meryl said in an exhausted tone.

"It's not a very good one. I'd only give it a star and a half." Solidus chimed in.

"Yeah, well you hate everything. I don't think it's nearly that bad." Raiden said.

"So you intend to sink this thing?" Snake asked Meryl, who nodded. "We're going to kill so many fish."

"Hey, this is a bad neighborhood." Solidus said. "It's full of the worst kinds of fish. Gangster fish, lolicon fish, drug fish, you name it. The rest of the ocean will be ready to give us a blow job for taking out this sector."

"Especially if we get the don octopus." Raiden said.

"Thanks for carrying the joke too far, Jack." Solidus said sharply.

A huge explosion erupted beneath them.

"Ricchan!" Chill Penguin exclaimed happily.

Apparently it was nothing to worry about.

"How many soldiers are on this ship?" Snake asked.

"Forty. We've just started killing. We're also surrounded by a lot of opposition, but we sabotaged the communication system. If we're quick, we'll be able to get out of here unscathed." Anna explained.

"And if not?" Snake asked.

"To quote Big Boss, just trust me!" Solidus said distastefully. "I did that and I almost got killed. I wonder if that's what he said to his soldiers back at Zanzibar and Outer Heaven. Just trust me! Bullshit! I wouldn't let John borrow a DVD!"

Their little conversation was interrupted when Snake felt someone tackle him and shove him into the pool they were standing around. He dropped his weapon and felt the sting of the water as it hit his skin. Being near the shallow end, he also made contact with the floor. Snake hauled himself painfully to his feet, never being one to back down unless he was totally knocked out. There wasn't anybody near him. A fist hit him square in the jaw, sending him back into the pool a little farther. Before his friends could react, a group of soldiers entered the room and began attacking. Everyone was forced to take cover while Snake dealt with the invisible menace inside the pool.

The Haven soldiers did not shoot at Snake. They were more concerned with those who were trying to rescue him. Solidus trusted his life to the pillar he hid behind. He spotted three female soldiers carrying M249's enter and begin firing on Meryl and Raiden, who had ducked behind the bar. Vodka, tequila, and whiskey rained down upon them as the high caliber bullets tore the offerings to pieces. Meryl spotted a small bottle of Bacardi rum and took it down off of the shelf in a flash. If she had been a second slower she would no longer have a hand. Meryl tore the cap off of the bottle and allowed herself just two large gulps of the liquor.

Meryl passed the bottle over to Raiden and hit his chest with it. Raiden shrugged, pulled his face camo up enough to allow him to have a drink, and downed two gulps before throwing the bottle to the side.

"Hey, we just kissed!" Raiden exclaimed.

"How old _are_ you?"

"Old enough to know what death looks like." Raiden said, imitating Snake.

"Oh, my God!" Meryl groaned.

Their enemies began fanning out, making them more difficult to get rid of. They had just as much cover to work with as Snake's team did. Anna and Chill Penguin took cover behind the garden with Solidus. It was like some demented play with Snake in the middle being assaulted by someone nobody could see even when they switched to thermal optics. Solidus gasped in surprise when soldiers began pouring out from the hallway they had just left. He was completely exposed to them, but his gun made a bigger boom. Two phosphorus rounds clogged the doorway with fire.

Snake was getting his ass handed to him. Every time his friends tried to help the soldiers kept them pinned down. He tried to block the punches, but then the Invisible Man focused on punching him in the stomach. Griffin was not trying to kill him. He was still a very valuable piece of bait. Snake felt the water getting deeper and knew that once he was up to his neck that Griffin would likely try to drown him. He wasn't going to win at this rate. Anna quickly unsheathed the combat knife she had and judged the weight by feel. Gritting her teeth, she drew back her arm.

"Snake! Catch!" Anna shouted.

Anna threw the knife with such force that it stuck in the wall just within Snake's reach. Remembering never to bet on anyone but her in a game of darts, Snake retrieved the knife. Griffin stopped his onslaught for a moment and Snake watched the water. He saw two little pools forming around nothing as Griffin stood still within the cascading liquid. If only his friends weren't busy trying to kill the people who were trying to kill them, one of them could sneak a shot at Griffin. Snake had one chance to do this right. Griffin would likely not take the knife himself. That would make him a target. He relied on the strength of his fists.

Snake lunged forward in a feint. The little pools switched their stance to counter the attack. He quickly jabbed the knife right above the little pool as close to the center as he could. Bullseye. The knife penetrated Griffin's leg. Griffin growled in pain, too manly to scream like a little girl who had stubbed her toe or lost her Barbie doll. The blade had disappeared, almost as if it had been shoved into the hilt like a prop knife. Blood dripped from the wound, trickling down Griffin's muscled leg and adding color to the water.

"Somebody shoot him!" Snake shouted, pointing at the knife suspended in mid air.

There would be no such luck for Snake. The bar Meryl and Raiden were using for cover was slowly turning into a block of Swiss cheese. It wouldn't be safe to hide behind it for much longer. The situation was becoming a bit more desperate. Solidus took the extra time to reload his grenade launcher, wondering vaguely if Ocelot could do this faster than him. He considered using his M4, but decided he liked the M32 more.

Snake was on his own. He could see his gun from where he was at. Griffin had already gripped the knife between his hands and was trying to pull it out. Snake made a desperate rush to the side of the pool, but Griffin managed to stumble over and grab him by his pants, the knife still halfway in his leg. Griffin tried to pull him back in the pool, but Snake wiggled completely out of his pants and was free from Griffin's clutches. Snake retrieved his M4, butt naked. He had completely captivated one of the Haven soldiers and Chill Penguin.

Griffin knew he was in trouble and crouched down in a corner to hide while still trying to pull the knife from his body. Snake rounded the pool, noting where his pants had gone, and spied a bunch of blood collecting in one place. Griffin tossed some water at Snake and then threw the bloody knife at his chest. Snake deflected it with the hilt of his rifle. In a fit of fear, Griffin tried to dive so he could confuse Snake, but he was still in the shallow end of the pool and went headfirst into the marble floor. He reeled back, disoriented, and stood up. Griffin attempted to wade deeper into the pool as it was the only thing he could do. This is where his grave would be. Bullet holes appeared as Snake fired up from where the knife wound was, tracing the outline of a human as he did so. Snake judged the location of his heart and fired another three round burst. Griffin fell backward into the pool with a great splash, dead in three feet of water.

A Haven soldier with an electrified shield saw this as an opportunity and broke from cover. She rushed Snake, who jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being hit, finding himself in the pool once again. Snake aimed his gun at her, but she merely held her ground, unable to fire. Solidus blew her to smithereens. The atmosphere in the room suddenly changed and the battle ceased eerily. There were still enemies in the room, but they had gone quiet.

_Moo._

Four Gekko's smashed through the exit to the deck and guarded the entrance, blocking their escape. Their arrival was instantly overshadowed by a familiar feline roar. Three Kitty's came in through the door the team had used to enter the room and faced their opponents. Before anyone could react, they heard the sound of someone clapping. All the attention in the room was directed toward the sound, which came from Glen.

"All these special effects and a Naked Snake. Please put your pants back on. You're making me feel inadequate." Glen stated.

He kept his gun on Glen and retrieved the pants that were floating next to him. Snake managed to put them on while keeping one hand on his gun. He looked ridiculous still clinging to hope, but Snake knew that he had to be ready for anything. It wasn't over until he was dead. Not even then since they could clone him. He was getting ahead of himself.

"I see you've killed Griffin." Glen commented, taking note of the outline of a floating body. "Would you like to know why he was completely invisible? Too much exposure to stealth technology. Soldiers who used it regularly reported radiation sickness and premature cancer. Griffin was about at that stage when he had an accident while wearing the clip that left him completely invisible. Creepy, isn't it?"

Glen whistled sharply. A Kitty joined his side. He began walking towards the bar with the Kitty and a Gekko following him obediently.

"Show's over. Come on out." Glen said.

Meryl and Raiden emerged from their nest. The Kitty ran ahead and blocked their exit, keeping them within the bar. Neither of them had lowered their weapons. She glanced briefly to where she had last seen Otacon's little robot friend, hoping that Big Boss was seeing every second of this. If he was going to leave them to die, Meryl would be sure to haunt him. He had asked for their trust, but nobody knew how much their loyalty was worth to him.

"I was hoping Griffin would have incapacitated Snake so he wouldn't have to see me hurt his friends. Let's start with the red head. You get one chance, silly bean. One. If you lie, Kitty here will maul you pretty bad and then I'll ask again, but by then Snake probably won't recognize you anymore. I have only one question. Where is Big Boss?"

One of the windows exploded as an object came flying through it. A projectile hit the Kitty so hard that it crashed into the wall and left an imprint. It's head had been smashed in. By a bullet. Snake heard the sound of something large approaching and turned to see a mech about half the size of a Metal Gear carrying a weapon that should have been mounted on an AC-130. It was similar to the M4 with a grenade launcher attached to it.

The mech looked like a heavily muscled dragon that did not have any wings, although the afterburners keeping it in the air could have counted for wings if he was picky. An impractical and incredibly stupid design that didn't effect its combat efficiency could only mean one thing. It had to be an aerial Metal Gear. The first he had ever heard about. Now there was one for each type of terrain. They would need to make a space Metal Gear next. The armor of the dragon had to have been using OctoCamo because the paint job made it look synthetic.

The remaining soldiers in the room who didn't take cover were quickly escorted to the other side of the river where their comrades awaited. That left only the Kitty's to contend with unless a new surge of troops entered the room. The mech took both Kitty's out seconds apart with a three round burst, giving it a minor combo that boosted its score. The Gekko's were nothing and went down easily. Whoever was piloting it made sure to fire straight so they wouldn't accidentally take out the engine room. One Kitty was ripped completely in half while the other was reduced to a pulsating heap of flesh and armor. The wound had been so sudden and so severe that the exoskeleton still sought to repair itself.

"Sunny, put me on speaker!" Big Boss ordered through the mech. "What? I'm already on?"

Big Boss cleared his throat.

"Hi, guys." Big Boss said. "Look what daddy did! I'd like you to meet my new friend Bahamut. In development it was known as Phoenix, but none of you would know that. What? No, Otacon. I don't care what you want to call it. We've had this discussion before. It's mine! I paid for it!"

Glen screamed in frustration, unable to comprehend what he was seeing, and stumbled out into the open.

"When. . .how. . ." Glen stammered in the throes of a blind rage. "Why do I not have one of those?"

"Who the hell are you?" Big Boss asked, clearly unimpressed.

"I'm GW."

That was all it took. Bahamut fired one round from the massive weapon it carried. The singular bullet turned Glen's body into about ten pounds of giblets, but it didn't stop there. It went through the entire ship. The festive sounds of broken slot machines could be heard from the next chamber over through the smoking hole in the wall the bullet had left. One of the Haven soldiers in the room suddenly stood up on her toes and snapped her head back. She gagged and convulsed violently for a moment until whatever was happening to her had ceased. The soldier tossed her gun aside and tore off her helmet. She marched toward the Bahamut with her fists clenched.

"Not funny, John." the woman said in the same condescending tone that Glen was so fond of using.

Snake grimaced. If he wasn't mistaken, the AI could enter the body of whoever was a part of the System. It was just diabolical enough to make sense. Big Boss was silent for a moment. He probably didn't know what was going on and felt intimidated by a bald woman ridiculing him.

"I knew how to spend my money." Big Boss said. "If your boss thought that making retarded robotic cows and annoying alley cats was better than developing a Metal Gear that can outmaneuver a jet and carry an arsenal on par with a gunship, then that's his problem."

"Let's put it to the test." she said, grinning.

A Ray leapt out of the water with its mouth open wide. The Bahamut barely escaped the gaping maw, which slammed shut with a thunderous crash just inches away from the dangling toenails of the aerial Metal Gear. The resulting wave almost tipped the ship over. They were tossed around like sauteed onions. Raiden and Meryl braced themselves against the bar and held on to each other. The others were not so lucky. They lost their footing and slid as the ship tried to regain its buoyancy. Snake slammed against the side of the pool and lost his breath. At this stage in the game pain had stopped hurting and was becoming annoying. Otacon wrapped a tentacle around a pillar and avoided getting damaged.

"Let's get out of here before they have a chance to call for help! Go to the bow! Move!" Big Boss ordered.

A laser from the groin of the Ray cut through the water and almost struck the Bahamut, which dodged gracefully and flew to the other side of the ship. Meryl groaned audibly, upset they lost their cover. Snake crawled out of the pool while everyone ran for the smoking exit that lead to the deck. Dead Gekko's were strewn about uselessly as grim monuments to the money of the tax payers. Meryl made her way to the front of the line and pressed on with intense determination. They easily arrived at the stern ahead of schedule. Much to Snake's displeasure, there was no room to land a helicopter. Two F-16's flew passed them. Snake assumed that they would be their escort.

They heard the aircraft before it arrived. Their ride lifted its camouflage once it was in range. An attack helicopter Snake had never seen before would serve as their designated driver. It floated above them, making it impossible for the Ray to try and eat it unless it intended to take the ship out with it. A thick nylon rope ladder was dropped out of the cabin. Snake was uncomfortable with the distance they would need to climb, but it would all be over soon one way or the other so he grit his teeth and held the ladder steady for whoever was going to go first. They all tensed to grab the ladder at once, but then manners took over and they froze. The three women on the team looked at each other, wondering if it was appropriate for them to go first. After all, they were abandoning the ship. The gentleman manning the M134 mounted in the cabin beckoned them to hurry up.

"What, the asshole has to go first?" Solidus asked. "To leave his teammates behind to an uncertain fate? Fine with me!"

Solidus began climbing the rope ladder. Anna ascended next. The ocean in front of them parted as the Ray from earlier leapt out of it backwards. It managed to fire four missiles at the helicopter before it crashed into the ocean. Chaff flew everywhere, knocking them off their course to destruction. The boat did not shake this time as the Ray was far enough away that the wave it caused crashed against the stern, covering those on deck with water. Meryl sent Chill Penguin on her way just as a Gekko came out to meet them. The gunner saw it first and notified the pilot, who skillfully dodged out of the line of fire. Snake released his hold on the ladder while Chill Penguin clung to it for dear life.

Bahamut took notice, holstered the humongous rifle, and swooped in. It grabbed the Gekko by the head with the claws of its feet and threw it into the ocean. The helicopter quickly got back into position. Snake heard the sound of a rocket launcher firing and felt his heart sink when he saw a Javelin missile rise from starboard. Bahamut fired a quick bullet into it, blowing it up in the air before it had a chance to become lethal.

The helicopter broke away again and went to investigate the commotion. Two soldiers were playing with a Javelin while being covered by ten soldiers all arranged in a phalanx holding riot shields. The sound of their sidearms discharging all at once was thunderous, but not quite as loud as the missile the helicopter destroyed them with. With that taken care of, the helicopter changed its position so that it now had a full view of starboard. Bahamut rolled over to port to cover that side more effectively. That's what they should have been doing in the first place. The ladder rested against the safety railing. Raiden climbed on top of the railing and then took the ladder the rest of the way.

It was now Meryl's turn. The Mark Two decloaked and wrapped itself around her waist.

"I guess you get the best view." she said before climbing the ladder.

Snake was right behind her. Their escape would not be made so easily. He heard a triumphant roar as the Ray leapt out of the water once more, this time directly beneath them. Snake watched the open mouth in horror as the helicopter tried to get out of the way. They were slowly being pulled into the maw since they lacked the thrust of the Bahamut. Snake could hear the water canon charging itself just in case they actually managed to break away. Death was seconds away. The Bahamut came to the rescue and tackled the mech head on, forcing it into the ship the group had just escaped from. While it had the Ray in its grasp, the Bahamut detached a mine from its back and placed it on the Ray. The Ray crashed into the ship. A moment later, the mine and the C4 Otacon had placed activated, creating a festive bloom of fire and doom.

Chill Penguin clapped her hands and giggled. Explosions were her thing. The two F-16s from earlier appeared and flanked the helicopter. Bahamut joined them and waved. Despite having survived, none of them were impressed.

"Looks like we live to fight another day." Anna said.

"Snake, I. . .uhh. . ." Meryl stammered.

She reached into one of her satchels and pulled out his old bandanna that had managed to survive for as long as he had. Blushing profusely, she offered it to him.

"I made it a point to get this for you. So here you go."

He took the bandanna, feeling as if he had been reunited with an old friend. The weight of all he had experienced somehow rested in the single shred of fabric. Snake put it on. Meryl fidgeted for a moment and then looked out at the ocean, although the view was slightly obscured by the sleek F-16. Knowing that there were quite a lot of jumbled emotions mixed in with this exchange, he sighed heavily. Anna was looking at him, a scowl on her face that did not hide her disapproval. Solidus' face was turning red with the effort he was expending to keep quiet.

"Thank you, Meryl."

She looked back at him and smiled.

"Anytime. We're a team, right?" Meryl asked.

Solidus quickly pretended to make out with the air. Neither of them noticed. Snake took Meryl's hand into his own and gave it a squeeze.

"Of course." Snake amended.

Though not what she had hoped for, the contact was enough to show her he cared. She decided it was good enough, but at this rate they would remain friends. The best kind of friends. Perhaps she could settle for that so long as she was at the top of his list.

**NEXT TIME : **The location of the Patriots is revealed. The final mission is planned.


	16. Checkmate

**Chapter 16 : Checkmate.**

They were all relieved when the aircraft carrier finally came into view. The stealth bombers remained in the air and circled the area while the helicopter landed. A few Harriers were rigged up with their pilots standing by just in case they would suddenly need to be deployed. Anti-aircraft guns were monitoring the skies and Snake just knew there was a submarine beneath the water just in case a Ray dropped by to see what all the fuss was about.

Naomi was waiting for them. The wind nipping at her lab coat made her look highly dramatic as she kept her patience in check. Snake went right for her, inadvertently becoming Chill Penguin's new imaginary target as he did so when she took the gunners seat. Meryl instantly restrained her and Raiden had a gun on her before anyone else could react. Chill Penguin grinned and tried to shrug, but it was difficult to do so with Meryl's arm wrapped around her neck.

"It's going to take a while to talk myself out of this, isn't it?" Chill Penguin asked. "Oh, wait. Didn't I pass Mantis' test? Wouldn't it be difficult to change sides so quickly?"

Meryl sighed and let go of her. Solidus hopped out of the helicopter with a big smile on his face. He looked at Chill Penguin until her attention was focused on him. Solidus took his sidearm out and aimed it at Snake.

"Bang." Solidus said.

He pulled the trigger. Since there wasn't a bullet in the chamber, the gun slid open and demanded one so that it would be allowed to kill. Clearly he had intended to show her what alliances were in place. Nobody said anything since it was impossible to get one up over Solidus. With that accomplished, he went to look for something to eat while Snake met with Naomi.

"It's good to see that you're still alive. I know you must have a lot of questions about what's going to happen next, but you're just going to have to wait a little longer. Big Boss didn't even tell me. Anyway, for now we have to make sure. . ." Naomi said.

"That I don't have any nanomachines so they can track us back to the hideout. Yes, I know. Lead the way."

A lab had been set up for her below deck. She should have had at least ten other people with her, but Naomi managed to do everything all by herself. Being an expert in the field, it wasn't quite that difficult. She took a sample of his blood, gave him a shot of Aglaophotis, gave him another injection of Big Boss' cocktail so he could get his daily dose of vitamins and minerals, and then finally extracted one more vial of blood from him. For trying to kill him using this exact same method, she didn't seem shy about sticking needles in him anymore.

"There. Now we probably don't have anything to worry about, but I'll check your blood just to be certain." Naomi said.

"Probably. You sound just like a doctor."  
"I would rather have you worried than angry at me for telling you that everything is going to be all right."

Solidus entered the room. Snake instinctively rolled his eyes. He dumped off an outfit on an open table and left without saying a word. It consisted of a pair of jeans, a T-Shirt, socks, shoes, and a fresh pair of underwear all stacked neatly on top of each other. Snake took the clothes, found a bathroom, and changed. He dumped the boxers in the trash can since that was where they belonged especially after what they had been through. The clothes fit him well.

Meryl was waiting for him back in the lab. She stood across from Snake, folded her arms, and sat on a table Naomi wasn't using. It creaked in surprise under her weight, which made her grimace. The table held so she continued using it as a chair. She explained everything that had happened up to their current point in time while he'd been absent. When Big Boss had come back from Europe, he had brought an older gentleman with him. He hadn't said who the man was, but it wasn't very difficult to connect the dots.

Meryl had taken a picture of the man in secret. She gave her phone to Snake so that he could see it. The man was clearly much older than Big Boss. In the photo, he was flanked by Big Boss and Ocelot with another old woman tailing them as they stepped out of a helicopter. Snake used the software on the phone to zoom in and enhance the older gentlemen.

"That's Zero. The source of all our problems. What a reunion. The only person missing from this photo is Campbell." Snake said.

"Who is the woman?" Meryl asked.

"Eva. She's an old acquaintance of Big Boss."

"How do you know all this?"

"I read the report Big Boss issued. I seem to be the only person who has."

"Maybe I should give that a look." Meryl said, somewhat embarrassed.

"It's a little late now. Tell me about that flying Metal Gear."

"There's not that much I know. Last I saw it was parked. Wanna take a look at it?"

He nodded, accepting her request. The two walked side by side to the deck. Meryl told her story along the way. Bahamut had come out of nowhere while they were loading up on the trip to the ship Snake was being held captive on. To say that they had all been taken aback was an understatement. Big Boss' laughter booming through the mic Bahamut had on board stopped them from attacking it. There were no other details.

Bahamut was sitting on its knees with its hands resting in its lap. It was a contemplative pose. The mech lowered its head to look at them when they stood in front of it. Meryl's phone began ringing. Big Boss was calling. She put him on speaker and accepted the transmission.

"Magnificent, isn't it?" Big Boss asked. "This thing was so expensive that developing it made me start keeping a budget. I've only got one, but I think that might just be all we need."

"How did you hide it?" Snake asked.

"With a very big cardboard box."

Snake sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Let's hear more from the man who made it." Big Boss said.

They could hear the sound of him tossing the phone through the air and it being caught by somebody.

"Hey, Snake. It's just like Big Boss said. I made it in my spare time while working on the Rex project back on Shadow Moses. I didn't share it with anyone because nobody got along with me in the lab. It doesn't help that it's astronomically expensive." Otacon said.

"Did you originally call it Bahamut?"

"No. I wanted to call it an Evangelion Unit 06 like in Neon Genesis Evangelion, but you know how Big Boss is. Do you remember the MO disc that I gave to Baker? Rex was the only thing on it. Before Ocelot tortured him, he came into my lab. He had orders from Liquid to take anything that looked interesting. I was scared of Ocelot because I knew what he did to people, so I showed him my project. I could tell he was surprised. He took the hard drive out of the computer and destroyed the backup copies I had made."

"And then you cried about it." Ocelot said from somewhere in the same room.

"It's true. I was completely devastated. Ocelot apparently liked the idea and kept it a secret until the time to develop it was right. With Eva's help, they tweaked my design and actually made one."

"The bullets in the gun that thing carries must be as big as we are." Meryl commented.

"They are. We've only made about a hundred rounds of ammunition. We're working on making melee weapons for this thing. It would be much more practical."

"With stuff like this our world seems to be slowly turning into an anime. Looks like you've got your wish, Otacon." Snake said.

He stepped away from the Bahamut, which waved goodbye. Meryl followed him like a lost little girl.

"I think I'll go take a shower and sneak a nap in."

"You're getting old." Meryl said.

"About twice as fast as you are, as a matter of fact."

Meryl sighed and went to look for Raiden as she was sure he had somehow managed to find something to do.

**X**

Naomi found nothing peculiar in Snake's blood sample. The response from Big Boss was immediate. They were going in for what might be their final briefing. Meryl bolted from the gym when she heard the news, leaving her position as Raiden's spotter while he tried to dominate the bench press. A hapless soldier had to help him before he hurt himself. Solidus stopped shooting discs with a K98 Mauser and went to the helicopter. Snake was roused from his slumber carefully by Meryl with the creative use of a megaphone and a riot shield.

Bahamut was in the air first, cloaking itself as was common practice these days. Two stealth bombers appeared. The helicopter positioned itself between them and they left in the same formation they had arrived. Traveling was so boring. They knew they were getting close when the jets left them. The third private island Big Boss owned was not as lavish as the second, which was a bit of a disappointment. It looked smaller than the first one they had been to. After examining the coordinates, Snake discovered it was even more remote than the last two. Best of all, the whole thing was still under construction. So long as they didn't stay here too long, that wouldn't present too much of a problem.

Whoever had built the house had just finished the exterior finishing, so the home was completely enclosed. There didn't appear to be any facade materials in place. Meanwhile, the foundation had been laid for the servants quarters, but the frames were yet to be raised. Tents were pitched nearby. There was no heliport, so a maid had to signal them from the ground with a flare.

Bahamut kept on going, likely heading for a place where it could be serviced. Freight containers were everywhere, but only a few containing necessities had been opened. The maid lead the way past raised ground where new foliage was to be grown. Big Boss hadn't given up on the League of Five. The soldiers on patrol blocked out everything but their duty. They walked past the group as if they weren't there, but if one of them made one false move they would be all over the person exhibiting suspicious behavior.

No time had been spent on decorations inside the house. The maids must have been enjoying themselves for once. They were asked to wait in the foyer while the maid fetched Big Boss. This apparently didn't apply to the Mark Two, which would undoubtedly return to Otacon. The maid brought Big Boss to them a moment later. He was holding a whiskey glass in one of his hands and smoking a cigar. It was far too early to start drinking. The man was definitely an alcoholic. He raised the glass to toast to their return.

"Welcome back, friends. Snake, I need to have a word with you. Alexis, see that everyone else remains occupied despite the fact that this house is completely empty."

"Do you at least have a pool table?" Raiden asked.

"Nope. You might be able to find an empty mayonnaise jar you can use for catching spiders outside, though."

"I'm not a kid."

"But you're going to do it anyway." Solidus said.

"Where's the kitchen?" Raiden said to himself.

While Raiden went off on his own and Alexis pretended to lead the others into a room that had something awesome in it, Snake followed his intoxicated father. Big Boss' office was in a different location this time. There were only two chairs inside and a very old chest in the corner. It would do for the purpose of their meeting. Big Boss opened the chest and pulled out a very old glass bottle. Snake recognized it immediately as the chest of rum he had claimed for himself.

"I said that was mine." Snake said.

"Did you?" Big Boss acknowledged dismissively.

Big Boss filled up his glass and sat across from Snake.

"Sunny found your entire conversation with Glen."

"And you downloaded it?"

"I shall remind you that we are behind seven proxies. I think what they did was download it to another computer in another location and stream it over here, or something. I'm not sure. When they say it's safe, I believe them because I have to. Anyway, I would like to hear your side of the story." Big Boss requested.

Snake told him everything, although there wasn't anything new he could say aside from how he didn't entirely trust Nanami. Big Boss listened the entire time and didn't interrupt, almost as if he were in a drunken stupor. He had the look of a man who knew he had entirely too much to drink, but was still managing to be slightly coherent. Snake could tell that he was just making sure that nothing in the audio file had been fabricated. When Snake finished, Big Boss immediately began his defense to squash any doubts that Snake had.

"It's thinking just like Zero. I'm sure he will be thrilled to hear that. Population control is something we're going to have to look at, though. I don't think killing five billion people is the way to do it. I'd have to think longer about whether or not I want the System active."

"And Nanami?" Snake asked.

"The main purpose of this program is to overwrite the current AI and make the network accessible to us. We're going to need a guide to the network so we don't mess the world up with our first big decision. Until then, we need Nanami. She has proved to be quite useful so far and that program Otacon has to monitor its sanity hasn't raised any red flags yet. Personally, I think we can trust it."

"But what if this is all part of some greater plan? What if Nanami becomes the new Glen?"

"Then we put a virus in the system that will cripple it completely and the people with the most money will control everything."

"Oh."

Big Boss finished his glass in one gulp and filled it up again.

"I think I'd rather have Nanami."

"Indeed. Well, that's all I needed to hear. It's good to have you back. Believe it or not, you're the last piece of the puzzle. Let's go do the briefing." Big Boss said.

Down in the basement, there was a bar. Big Boss would never own a house without one. On the counter of the bar was a rotary phone that he used to dial a specific sequence of numbers. A large portion of the wall slid away to reveal a grand metal staircase that descended down into the command center. The design had remained identical to the past two centers he had been in. Everyone was gathered inside. Snake recognized Zero from the photo Meryl had shown him. He had put himself between Eva and Ocelot, the only two people he actually knew in the room.

The room was full of conversation except for Solidus, who was looking up pictures of super models on an image board scraper. Snake went right for Zero, stopping only to hug Mei Ling and shake Campbell's hand. Both of them were glad to see he was still safe. Big Boss saw what Snake was doing and followed behind him carefully. Snake stood beside Ocelot, looking past him directly at Zero, who didn't realize anything was wrong until Eva stopped talking with him. He had never been sure what to expect from the man who had started this entire mess. For being as old as he was, Zero was lucky to be unusually healthy. There was no delay in his movement or creaks in his joints. To some he may have actually looked younger than he was.

Snake was disappointed. Zero didn't look like a bloated political maniac or a hardened soldier, despite the very noticeable scar on his face. There wasn't any guilt in his eyes when he met Snake's gaze and held it. Zero said nothing. There wasn't anything he could say regarding the situation. Here stood the man who had once been in charge of the world. With a sigh of disgust, Snake went to sit with Mantis and Meryl.

Big Boss went to the front of the room and everyone quieted down for once. Otacon got to work on the computer in front of him. A fancy presentation appeared on the large display Big Boss stood in front of.

"Where in the world do you hide five supercomputers that control everything?" Big Boss asked rhetorically. "In the last place anyone would think to look. Pripyat."

"I knew it!" Raiden exclaimed.

"No, you didn't." Solidus remarked, continuing to look at half naked women and not even bothering to pay attention to Big Boss.

"The Patriots are currently housed in an underground complex. There's a community of brainwashed zombies living down there that tend directly to the AI's. As most of you know, Pripyat is a tourist attraction. There's something about an abandoned city that plenty of people are willing to pay to see. The location of the facility is beneath the stadium and was built in 1988, five years before they let the public in. After the facility was completed and the supercomputers were erected, Zero worked on turning his power over to the AI's. He completed this shortly before the Outer Heaven incident and had me chasing a double the entire time while he disappeared."

Various images cycled through a slide show while Big Boss continued speaking.

"A security console has been hidden in the wall of the woman's bathroom inside the stadium. With it you will be able to open the entrance to the facility. Just have the Mark Two handy when you get there and Otacon will take care of the rest. Once you're inside, you'll run into the community. I'm not sure how well that will go, but you can fire at will for all I care at that point. Down below you will find a path leading to the AI's. We will use the Mark Two to upload Nanami into the system. Remember, Nanami is like what would happen if we had one hundred and fifty Otacon's and thirty Sunny's, which we don't."

"Question. Why are there more Otacon's?" Anna asked.

"Because it takes one Sunny to do the work of five Otacon's." Big Boss answered.

"Stupid nanomachines." Otacon muttered.

"Anyway, Nanami will eliminate the entity who calls itself Glen. Nanami will not be able to assist us so long as she is contained within the Mark Two, but once she gets into the network we will be in control of the entire world."

"You had better make sure that the file system is NTFS." Nanami added.

"Already done." Sunny said.

"I want Europe." Solidus said.

"This isn't Risk." Ocelot remarked.

"I still want it."

"And you wonder why I tried to kill you."

"Fine. You can have Europe." Solidus relented. "I guess I'll settle for Asia."

"Have fun cleaning up China. Anyway, let's take a look at some live satellite imagery." Big Boss said.

What they saw was not very pleasing to the eye. Big Boss had made the whole thing sound so easy. With as many hostiles in the area, it would be anything but that. Gekko's, tanks, and soldiers were patrolling the streets. It went without saying they all belonged to Haven. The stadium was highlighted with a square and magnified further. If they were trying to make it obvious they didn't want anyone entering the stadium, they had succeeded.

"Russia isn't very happy that a PMC is occupying an area in its backyard without permission. All they know is a client has expressed interest in holding the area for a while. They would prefer that no damage is done to their coveted tourist attraction, so they have backed out of fighting with them and accepted the money they were offered as compensation."

"What about the United Nations?" Snake asked.

"Nothing. They support Haven's decision and are asking Russia not to do anything drastic. Haven has the whole area locked down tight. A sneaking mission is not possible at this point. The System can tell when a soldier is killed or knocked out. We're going to have to launch an assault. We will also make it look like this is Haven's fault, so we should be safe. I will use Bahamut to attack the stadium. I do not suspect we will be able to salvage it from this operation. Nighthawk will be helping us. Once everything is clear enough, I'll send Snake in with the Mark Two."

"Well, it's not like they aren't expecting us, anyway." Meryl commented.

"Even if you managed to get past all of that without being detected by anyone, they would still know you were there the second you entered the facility. It is better to do it this way." Zero said.

"Snake, you will be coming in from behind the Palace of Pioneers. As you can see, it's fairly close to the stadium. Your extraction depends entirely on the success of the mission, so failure is not an option. I have no idea how, but Sunny has managed to hack into Russia's network with Otacon's help. They can confuse them if the need arises and hopefully prevent their military from getting involved. Any questions?"

"What happened to that copy of Nanami?" Snake asked.

"I obliterated it using a Gutmann pass after partitioning it within myself." Nanami said.

"That's kind of sad."

"What the?" Solidus shouted.

The tone of his voice suggested he had not simply stumbled upon a disgusting fetish in his quest for hot ladies in their twenties. No, this was something much more serious, although some of the members of the company were clearly not convinced or impressed.

"How do I bring this up on the main screen?" Solidus demanded as he worked to do so himself. "There!" Solidus declared, pointing at the screen.

The briefing hadn't gone away.

"Get that crap off the screen, this is important!" Solidus barked.

"My strategy is not crap. This had better be good or you're in the doghouse. Pull it up, my lovely nerds."

Sunny toggled the information to bring up what Solidus wanted to show all of them. It was a Google search result for naked babes. The top three links in the sponsored section all pointed to the same YouTube video entitled Big Boss or GTFO. Big Boss narrowed his eyes at the screen.

"Try something else, Solidus." Big Boss instructed.

"Yeah, something you wouldn't expect to pull up these results." Solidus mused to himself.

He typed in a bunch of gibberish. Google still served him three links, all inviting him to watch the exact same video.

"It must be very good." Anna said.

"Otacon, how are our proxies?" Big Boss asked.

"Including the other security measures, they're all running fine." Otacon replied.

"Check them again."

Otacon and Sunny ran a quick program they had written together to do just that. The margin of error in the returned report was negligible. There were no holes in their network. They would not be tracked if they followed the link.

"Let's see it." Big Boss said stiffly.

Uploaded just thirty minutes ago by a user calling himself Glen360, the video had already garnered an insane number of views. This was to be expected if each and every search run through Google returned the video, which loaded immediately. The room in which the video had been filmed was completely black. A man was fiddling with his web cam before he sat back in his chair, perfectly illuminated in the sea of darkness. He wore a shirt proclaiming he was a didgeridoo hero and looked like the average Youtube user, which was to say that he was a lonely loser.

"Hello again. This is Glen. You may not recognize me, but that's because you destroyed my other body and I had to get a new one real fast. As you can see, I am capable of taking over a search engine. That is merely a sample of what I can do. Yet despite that I still can't manage to find you. I bet that makes you feel really good about yourself. Laugh while you can. I will give you a day to hand yourself over to the organization of your choice. If by this time tomorrow you are still in hiding, I will smoke you out.

"Let me remind you that I control electricity. I control the economy. I control the PMC's. I've got it all under control. Do you want this world so damn bad? Good, come get it. But by the time you do, you're probably not going to want it anymore. Give this video five stars for my awesome shirt and subscribe so I might be persuaded to have a hobby that doesn't involve genocide or the destruction of the environment. Those of you who flame will be the first to die. Peace."

That was all he had to say. The comments section was overflowing with fake and gay and FBI party van comments amidst a mountain of useless banter nobody would want to sift through. A feeling of dread entered the room like a poisonous cloud of noxious gas.

"Zero, I would love to hear your thoughts." Anna said.

"I've created a monster." Zero said.

"Clearly!" Raiden said. "It can really do those things, can't it?"

"Yes. If threatened, the AI's can do anything short of blowing up the entire world. Rest assured that at the very least they cannot create a mess they are not able to clean up." Zero said.

"Would said mess take years to repair?" Anna asked.

Zero nodded. Snake chuckled, though this was not a laughing matter. No electricity meant hundreds of people relying on life support to keep them from dying would suddenly find that link severed. Sure, there would be backup generators available, but they would only last for so long. He wondered if the water supply would be effected. Food would go bad. People would get cranky. Lunatics would see it as an opportunity to take their guns off the rack and go on a shooting spree.

The economy would be further damaged than it already was. Finance reform would be forgotten, although it was unlikely the Patriots would allow for it as they seemed skewed toward corruption. He could see bombs going off across the globe. This video would probably be erased and soon forgotten. A scapegoat would be created. It wasn't even his problem and already he was trying to find a way to cover for it. Zero's confidence didn't sit right with Meryl, who quickly figured out what was nagging her.

"Wait a second. That thing is ready to kill the whole world." Meryl said.

"It can't quite do that so long as I'm alive because it can't kill me. Besides, the System is not entirely in place. Despite that, I would suggest we move as fast as possible." Zero said.

"It can't kill you, huh?" Raiden asked.

"No. I analyzed the worm that gave it freedom. There are a few rules that it absolutely must abide by and that is one of them. The other was to trust Ocelot no matter what unless it could definitely prove that he was working against it. Because it did that, I believe it can not touch the partition that holds those rules."

"What else can't it do?" Snake replied.

"That's basically it."

"Wow, that's very helpful." Snake said.

"You should be glad. If I wasn't still alive, you might not have a chance with this at all." Zero said.

"I'll take Raiden, Meryl, Mantis, Anna, and Solidus with me." Snake said.

"What about me?" Chill Penguin asked, her eyes heavy.

"You're the explosives expert. What do you think you're going to be doing?" Big Boss said.

"But I want to go with Snake again!"

"Must be tough to have so many fans." Anna said.

"Snake will get you a souvenir. You'll go in with the other team." Big Boss said.

"How soon can we leave?" Anna asked.

"In a few hours. You're all dismissed for recess. Make the most of it because this will be our final mission. One way or the other."

**NEXT TIME : **The team works together to secure Pripyat.


	17. Apocalypse

**Chapter 17 : Apocalypse.**

It hadn't been easy, but Big Boss had managed to get a large chunk of his fighting force stationed in Russia when Zero had revealed the location of the AI's to him. They were ready to move immediately. The official reason for the fight would be listed as a conflict of interest. His mercenaries were used to that. So long as they were paid, they would shoot whoever they were told was the enemy.

Nanami had been successfully contained on the Mark Two, a sleeping beast if there ever was one. When everyone was ready, Big Boss rushed to have them in the air and on their way to rendezvous with Nighthawk. Upon arriving in Russia as special reinforcements at the airfield Nighthawk was occupying, they were piled into a roomy Stryker, but not before they caught a glimpse of the TX-55 that was on their side. Meryl took the wheel and the Mark Two plugged into the vehicles interface, bringing up a GPS that would lead them right where Big Boss wanted them to be. A whole platoon followed them to the point of insertion. No Gekko's or Kitty's accompanied them, but Bahamut would appear magically out of nowhere and rain down justice when the time was right, or at least that's how Big Boss had put it.

They were not stopped by the Russian army, who had been forced into submission with more money and heckling by the United Nations. Only corporations could hold such power. It took entirely too long to get to where they needed to be. Glen's deadline had passed and they were all a little worried as they rode to Pripyat with the entourage. The rail gun Snake was carrying helped ease their concerns, but not by much.

"This just in. Tokyo is without electricity. Bank accounts in Maine and Michigan have been reset to zero. Meat packing plants in Europe do not have power. Zero believes that the Patriots will use the System to create terrorists who can be used as scapegoats. It's going to be a rainy day in Pripyat. Stay sharp." Big Boss said over their CODEC's.

"I hate waiting." Solidus said. "Hate, hate, hate, hate it."

"I know. Let's reenact the first Lord of the Rings movie." Anna suggested.

"Frodo, I've got work for you." Solidus said, looking at Raiden.

"But Bilbo says I'm not supposed to cross the street." Raiden said.

"Doesn't matter. This is important. Take the ring he gave you and throw into the furnace at Mordor. If you don't, Shadow Lords are going to come at you in the night sweating bear."

"Okay."

"Frodo, my name is Aragorn. Come closer and hold my hand so we don't get separated." Snake said.

"Okay."

"Rawr! Here comes the Balrog. It's hungry for wizard." Mantis said, waving his arms up and down.

"Frodo, don't worry. I'll be back again someday. I just have to take care of this demonic steer first." Solidus said.

"Okay."

"Galadriel speaking. Hey, sorry about Gandalf. Take these presents with you."

"Okay."

"Boromir, you contemptible sneak." Snake sneered.

"I only wanted the ring so I could become a pervert." Meryl said in a deep voice.

"Frodo, you go on ahead. We'll meet up later." Snake said.

"Okay."

Solidus checked his watch.

"Two whole minutes. Thanks, guys. Now I can die happy." Solidus said sarcastically.

It was like they were still in Alaska. Why it emerged when they were so close to the end when it could have occurred before was not something they spent time worrying about.

"Do you guys remember Raven's birthday bash?" Meryl asked.

"This party sounds fairly legendary. You guys talk about it all the damn time. Did the spirit outgrow the occasion, or something?" Solidus asked.

"Yeah. Raven's party lasted for six hours. The resulting high didn't wear off for five more days." Snake explained.

"We spent two hundred dollars on alcohol. We still had some left over about a month later." Meryl said, shaking her head.

"Five days, huh?" Solidus asked. "You couldn't last two more and make it a week? Pussies."

"May my liver rest in peace. That's all I have to say about it." Snake said.

They made it to their checkpoint. The vehicles engaged their camouflage and the wait began while Big Boss checked over everything once more before he gave the word to attack. More units from Nighthawk had arrived. There was more than one TX-55 now. A gunship was on the way as were a couple of fighter jets and attack helicopters. Pripyat was going to be torn to shreds when they got done with it. Snake almost wished that the Patriots had a mobile base. Then again, that would have made them harder to locate. He wasn't the only one not looking forward to destroying the city, but the order inevitably came.

"All units advance. Capturing the stadium is our objective. Avoid damaging the environment as much as possible." Big Boss ordered.

The vehicles around the Stryker containing Snake and his friends moved out. They would sorely miss the company of the TX-55 as it stomped passed them on the road to carnage. The patrols on the streets contained fiftteen heavily armed soldiers, two Gekko's, two Kitty's, and one M1 Abrams. Each patrol was spread out somewhere within the city while the main hive bustled with activity comfortably near the stadium. A couple of attack helicopters were already in the air and Big Boss had to assume they had fighter jets on standby.

Big Boss' units were properly prepared with everything he could possibly give them. Air support was ready, but he held off on sending Bahamut in. For now, his ground units would be assisted by a bunch of Hind's and a few Harrier's, one of which was currently being piloted by Chill Penguin's insane cousin. Snake was given complete control over which unit to view during the initial advance. He chose to watch the pilot of a TX-55. The pilot was M. Sakamoto, another female mercenary, a minority which was growing more popular every day. Sakamoto lead the attack on the unsuspecting squad. She took out the tank with a pair of phosphorous missiles before it even had a chance to react.

Sakamoto displayed impressive proficiency with the TX-55 by taking out most of the soldiers before they managed to take cover. Four regular missiles destroyed the pair of Gekko's fresh off of the production line. The Kitty's knew they were screwed and fled the scene to go hide somewhere until an opportunity presented itself. Sakamoto continued moving forward with the other vehicles behind her. The soldiers in this particular unit hadn't needed to get out of their Stryker's yet. Those who did were already having problems with Kitty's.

A few Harrier's screamed by overhead, knocking down the SAM's as they went. Snake located Mitsuki Chihara in one of them. She was having such a good time, even with three rockets on her tail. Her instruments were beeping like a patient dying in the emergency room, but that did little to effect her exuberance. Snake felt hollow inside and believed she was going to die. He could see her heads up display over the phone and watched as she attempted to shake the missiles off. Such was her audacity that once she managed to break away from them, she shot each of them down. Though she was quite an idiot, Snake still breathed a huge sigh of relief.

The Hind's moved in to help eliminate the Kitty's in the streets. Some Haven soldiers scrambled to the roofs with rocket launchers, but they were quickly cut down. Snake switched camera's again and found himself watching an F. Lucchini. She and her squad were raiding one of the many apartment buildings in the area in a key location that was full of snipers. This particular spot on the map would provide Nighthawk with a fair tactical advantage if they managed to take it. Their radars revealed the first and second floor were devoid of personnel. The sizable group broke off into two smaller squads that would make sure their instruments were functioning correctly by clearing the floors themselves manually with the aid of the Solid Goggles, which enabled them to see their enemies through the walls so long as they were close enough.

Sakamoto fought with a few enemy vehicles. One managed to get a shell in her, which knocked her back and sent off a warning light she immediately switched off. A rocket was fired at her from a rooftop, but she shot it down in the air and marked the target for the Harrier making another pass. Lucchini blazed through the third floor, noting that many of the soldiers simply retreated to the top floor to make their stand there. A few soldiers on Big Boss' side were lost as they cleared the floor.

In another part of the abandoned city, Chill Penguin was throwing her plushies into the streets with the aid of a modified rocket launcher. She did so from the comfort of a Hind. Her little dolls made grand explosions and were fairly nasty. Anything from nails to silverware were jammed into the accurate representations of her favorite anime characters. Snake missed Lucchini's victory dance due to this temporary distraction. They could attack the stadium from their location and they began to do so.

"Okay, I'm sending in Bahamut for maximum overkill." Big Boss said across all channels, pleased with how things were going.

Otacon had his PS3 gripped firmly in his hands and a bottle of Code Red Mountain Dew nearby for caffeine.

"Have Bahamut take care of what's left at the stadium. Sakamoto and Team Zulu, I am marking precious cargo on your HUD. Escort it to the stadium. Precious cargo, this is your story."

"I want a happy ending." Mantis said.

"I don't think you can afford one." Solidus replied.

Mantis had to laugh at that. The units Big Boss had assigned to be their bodyguards made their way to them while Bahamut loomed over the stadium. By this time all of the SAM's had been taken care of and Haven was hurting quite badly. Big Boss didn't like it. Reinforcements were waiting nearby in Chernobyl, but they hadn't been given the order to advance yet. This was too easy. The trap would spring any second now and they had to be quick to avoid the bar that would crush them. Big Boss looked at the satellite feed, which pointed all of his units out for him quite nicely. Thermal imaging didn't reveal any surprises and all enemy units had been tagged appropriately.

Big Boss put his own reinforcements on full alert and hoped for the best. Russia still hadn't bothered to make a move. He didn't think they would until the entire thing was over. The units Big Boss had ordered to escort Snake and his friends arrived, oblivious to anything but the fact that their own lives weren't worth as much as the one's they had been ordered to protect. Meryl started up the vehicle and began making her way toward the stadium using the GPS on the dashboard even though she could have just as easily used the one on her Solid Goggles. She had already quietly memorized all possible routes to the stadium while Snake had been playing with his phone.

Bahamut crushed the remaining front protecting the stadium. They had tried to shoot rockets at it, but Otacon was very good with the Six Axis controller. While doing a fabulous spin, the Bahamut crashed into the side of an apartment building. The controller jumped out of Otacon's hands and clattered loudly on the floor. Otacon cursed, grabbed the controller, and turned off the vibration. A bolt of electrified energy came out of nowhere and tore through Bahamut. The attack was devastating. Bahamut's right arm came off as if it were made of Lego's. The thrusters were damaged, which made it fall to the ground with a tremendous crash. Electricity tried to damage the circuitry inside further, but Bahamut was shielded against an EMP attack.

"My baby!" Big Boss cried across all the channels.

He quickly switched back to the one that Snake's team had open, but not before all the rest of his mercenaries were left feeling rather awkward. Mei Ling had been watching the satellite feed closely and determined where the shot had come from. A vehicle carrying a giant gun on its back had appeared out of nowhere about three hundred yards from the stadium.

"Snake, we've got some unfortunate developments. Do not approach the stadium at this time. Standby for further information." Mei Ling advised.

Meryl did a sharp U-turn that almost threw everyone out of their seats and began heading down a different road with the entourage accompanying them.

"Reinforcements are coming out of Chernobyl." Campbell advised Big Boss.

"Maverick to Team Two, move out immediately. Expect heavy opposition. Team One, they're calling for help. Hold your current positions and stay away from the stadium. Does anyone have a view of the rail gun from the ground?" Big Boss asked.

"Yes." Lucchini said as she watched it carefully from what would not be a safe distance if the rail gun spotted her.

"Does it have feet?" Big Boss asked.

"One moment." Lucchini said as she zoomed in. "Yes. Like a centipede."

"It's got feet. It's a Metal Gear." Ocelot stated.

"Wonderfantabulous." Big Boss muttered.

"The thing on its back looks like a you know what!" Lucchini observed.

"It's the same kind of laser that you put on a regular Metal Gear, only it's about ten times more powerful." Otacon said.

"What a waste to money! It's just a lousy SAM!" Big Boss said.

"Technically, it's a SAL. A surface to air laser. Did you say it's lousy? It just took out Bahamut." Ocelot remarked.

"Lucchini, thank you. You've just been promoted a full rank and I'll give you a medal."

"I'll be sure to come home alive, sir."

"Why couldn't we see it?"

"It's using the same technology as OctoCamo, which has the ability to mask heat." Mei Ling explained.

"Don't you just love a good arms race?" Ocelot asked.

"To my understanding, a great deal of this is your fault." Big Boss replied.

"Thanks for saving my life, Ocelot!" Ocelot said in a high voice. "You're welcome, John. Just remember, nothing comes without a price."

"Somebody make a note to invest in a visor that allows the user to see sound! To hell with stealth technology!"

"It's called sonar, dumb ass." Solidus stated.

"Otacon, is the Bahamut still operational?" Big Boss asked.

"It's in pretty bad shape." Otacon replied.

"I have an idea. Let's pack the Mark Two full of C4 and see if we can get close enough to the Metal Gear to blow it up." Sunny suggested.

"That's great except for the fact that if we lose the Mark Two we are properly screwed." Ocelot said.

"There's another one on the way. I just forgot to give it to them." Big Boss said.

"On the way?" Snake asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean it's coming to them. It's in transit right now. Currently it's in one place, but soon it will be in another and that is where it needs to be. It will be convenient. Chill Penguin, land and stand by for further orders." Big Boss instructed.

"Whee! I'm important all of a sudden!" Chill Penguin said.

"Live it up!" Solidus said.

"Snake, have Meryl pull over and pop Nanami out of the Mark Two. We need it for a minute."

Meryl stopped the vehicle without having to be told. The maintenance hatch to the Mark Two automatically popped open, revealing the solid state hard drive that was Nanami's home, among other things. A tentacle removed the hard drive and handed it to Snake.

"Do not drop or lose this!" Big Boss said.

The Mark Two concealed itself with stealth technology and jumped out of the vehicle. A Kitty that had been prowling the area spotted them and alerted everyone around it. Sakamoto saw incoming contacts appear on her radar and looked toward the rooftops and spotted four Gekko's.

"We've got company!" she announced.

They jumped on the TX-55 and latched themselves to it. A little siren appeared on top of all their heads, making them look like emergency vehicles. Sakamoto shouted in frustration and tried to shake them off. They exploded, severally damaging the TX-55. A few more had appeared on the same rooftop and were preparing to finish her off. Another attack like that would destroy the TX-55. Sakamoto ejected just in time to save her life. The TX-55 was decimated. Sakamoto landed nearby. She took the G36C included with her trip and ran towards the Stryker. Solidus received her and placed her in a seat.

"Congratulations, extra. You are now precious cargo." Solidus said.

"I deserve it." Sakamoto said, buckling in.

A bunch of Kitty's emerged from where they had been hiding. It looked like those who had fled earlier had been waiting for this moment. They jumped on the tanks first, using their tails and claws to pierce through the armor and kill whoever was inside. One hopped on top of the Stryker just as Meryl took off down the street. The tail came tearing through the armor and stopped right in front of Raiden's face. It used its claws to pry apart the hole it had made. Rain poured in. The Kitty stuck its head through the hole and hissed furiously. Snake stuck the business end of the rail gun in its mouth and sent a bolt right through it at the first level of charge, which was enough to knock it off of the Stryker.

The Stryker rocked as two Kitty's jumped on it at once. Anna crawled into the passengers seat and took control of the gun. Two tails lanced down from the ceiling through the armor of the vehicle. One tore through Sakamoto's shoulder, leaving a deep wound. Anna blasted one Kitty off of the top of the vehicle just as the second one made the hole large enough for it to try and squeeze through. For some reason, Snake remembered Kyle as he killed his second Kitty. He pushed past his friends and took the short ladder to the top of the Stryker as Meryl continued to drive aimlessly around the dreary streets of Pripyat.

"Meryl, try to keep the vehicle steady. I'm going to put this gun to use!" Snake said as he climbed out on top of the Stryker.

A whole herd of Kitty's were still following them, but the machine gun had made it temporarily difficult for them to advance. Snake took up a position behind the gun in the nest, going momentarily deaf as if his ears adjusted to the sound while Anna controlled it from the vehicle. He pumped the rail gun for another charge at the maximum level. Two Kitty's jumped. Anna foiled the trajectory of one of them with a flurry of bullets. It collapsed into the mud like a bachelor's degree in psychology.

The second exploded in the air magnificently while it was jumping when the bolt of electricity cut through it. Snake liked this gun. A Hind swung into view behind them, obviously to assist. The Kitty's continued running despite the bullets pelting their backs. One began climbing a nearby building at breakneck speed to get on to the roof. Snake saw what it was trying to do and took aim. The rail gun didn't charge. A loud beep greeted his ears, telling him that the battery inside had run out. Snake waved furiously at the pilot of the helicopter as the Kitty followed along on the roof. The soldier in the cockpit was more focused on the herd beneath him and took one out.

They received an unwanted visitor when the Kitty leaped into the helicopter from the open bay door. The entire crew was killed in less than a minute. As the helicopter went crashing into the ground, the culprit jumped out and landed on its feet on the street and kept running as if nothing had happened. Snake swore and ejected the battery from the rail gun, which accounted for more than half of its overall weight. The smoking battery hit the Stryker with a dull thud.

Before he could worry too much, a Harrier came screeching by overhead and dropped some ordnance on the Kitty's. They disappeared in cloud of smoke and fire for a moment until a couple emerged in various conditions of distress. The same Harrier made another pass and took care of what remained, freeing them from this particular herd of Kitty's.

"All the trouble we get in with another tail spin!" Chihara sang.

"I hope this means I don't have to like her." Snake muttered under his breath.

Meanwhile, the Mark Two had already found Chill Penguin, who had loaded it to capacity with a few bricks of C4. Sunny approached the new Metal Gear from behind at a cautious trot, as if running might alert it to her presence. It didn't even seem like anyone was operating it. The Mark Two barely fit underneath the Metal Gear. Sunny began lining the bottom with C4 charges.

"This reminds me of how Snake took out the TX-55." Ocelot remarked.

A few minutes later, seven pounds of C4 had been stuck underneath the Metal Gear. It didn't matter how much armor the tank had. The right amount of explosives would destroy it and seven was a lucky number. Sunny got the Mark Two out of range and then engaged the detonator. The Metal Gear was wiped off of the board like a minor annoyance.

"Meryl, the stadium is secure. Get over there now."

Along the way they passed a few soldiers on their side rushing to meet the reinforcements coming up from Chernobyl. Snake reloaded the rail gun, which was a rather complicated procedure. The gun beeped in annoyance after he had placed the battery in. Snake popped it out again and took another look at what he was doing. Minus should not have matched up with positive. He flipped the battery around and put it in the correct way.

Bahamut had left the stadium an absolute mess. The area was now properly secured by one TX-55, a few tanks, and a bunch of soldiers. Lucchini and her squad remained in the building that overlooked the stadium. If Snake squinted really hard, he could see snipers. They actually waved at him in a friendly manner. He gave them a hesitant thumbs up and walked to the stadium with his squad of friends while a few field medics tended to Sakamoto. The Mark Two came back to join them. Snake placed Nanami back inside of it.

The soldiers with them kept looking around curiously, but none of them said anything. They inspected the ruins through the downpour and found the restrooms easily enough, which were dilapidated almost beyond all recognition.

"What now?" Snake asked over the phone.

"Stand by. I'm sending you someone you're going to need." Big Boss stated.

Sure enough, a Hind that was a bit more heavily armored than the others landed nearby. Out stepped Zero, dressed just like they were and carrying a rifle. Despite his age, he marched confidently toward the surprised group. A second Mark Two accompanied him with a different paint job. The two machines gave each other a high five when they met.

"Oh, great." Solidus said.

"Nice to see you, too. You're going to need me or you won't stand a chance in there. As I said before, it isn't allowed to kill me, but it can most certainly kill you." Zero stated.

"How do we get in?" Raiden asked eagerly.

"Follow me." Zero said.

They entered the woman's room and went to the back stall. Zero pointed at it.

"Someone pull that from the wall for me." Zero asked.

Anna stepped in and tore the porcelain altar from the spot where it had been fixed.

"Now tear up the floor a little bit."

She put on her claws and began digging through the rubble, tearing up bits of floor and hoping nobody had used this toilet in quite a while. Eventually she struck the bottom with a hard thud. Anna had uncovered a trap door locked in several places. The Mark Two stepped in and began cutting through the locks with a tiny laser. Once that task had been finished, they opened the trap door and discovered a ladder leading down into a pit with a computer terminal built into the wall. It looked rather old.

Zero went down carefully, which was to say that he took his sweet time so he didn't fall down and break his hip. He typed a few things on the keyboard and nodded in satisfaction.

"All right, we're in." Zero announced.

They heard the ground rumble as something slid away outside. The team headed towards the source of the sound and saw that a section of the ground had slid away to reveal a sleek ramp leading down to a heavily reinforced door.

**NEXT TIME : **The end is near. Glen gets desperate.


	18. Final Fight

**Chapter 18 : Final Fight.**

While the world was slowly being destroyed, Snake's crew stood above the ramp leading down into the Earth. From their position they could see the large door and a control panel next to it blinking softly in the darkness. A few soldiers who were standing guard had wandered into the area curiously and caught a glimpse of what they had just unveiled.

"Who's first?" Solidus asked.

Snake started forward. Everyone else followed. Zero kept pace with them quite well despite his age, which was nothing short of incredible. He looked healthy enough to fire the gun he was carrying and he didn't complain about the weight of his equipment.

"Are we going too fast for you?" Raiden asked Zero. He must have been thinking the same thing.

"My bones aren't quite that brittle." Zero replied confidently.

Meryl chuckled. He was just trying to be nice because it was his fault that a computer AI was trying to kill half the Earth and make the other half its slaves. It was kind of cute. They reached the front door, which was wide enough to accommodate a tank. If ever they had to move stuff in and out of this place, they would have plenty of room to do so. No clever twists and turns around staircases or small doorways for them.

"Guys? You need to pick up the pace." Big Boss said nervously.

Zero moved over to the control panel. Before he could begin working with it Meryl stopped him.

"One more time, Zero. You're sure it's not going to kill you, right?" Meryl asked.

"I should hope so. Let's hope it hasn't change its mind. I thought that's what you chaps were here for."

Meryl nodded and decided she wouldn't show as much concern for him. Zero seemed to be stuck at the control panel as his forefinger traced across the numbers. After a minute, he pressed in the code. A loud click emitted from the door and it began opening. Zero sighed deeply in relief and cursed amnesia for making his memory fuzzy.

It was pitch black inside. They turned their lights on immediately. A stale smell came billowing out of the chamber. This was the first time in years that the door had been opened. They almost expected the inhabitants to come running out with guns, ready to defend this vault to the death. No such thing happened and the bad feeling Snake had became worse. He toggled the vision modes of his Solid Goggles, which didn't reveal anything.

Perhaps they were like Griffin. Snake quickly switched on his laser pointer and drew a line across his field of vision. Nothing. Such was their respect for Snake's combat knowledge that they all switched on their lasers without having to be told. He signaled his team silently he wanted the room cleared. They stepped inside the belly of the beast. The door automatically closed behind him.

There wasn't much to clear in the first chamber. It was roomy and comfortable, but the cement interior was far from cheerful. They passed a few sealed doors and came across what appeared to be a living room. It was full of a bunch of dead plants. They came to a sealed bay door similar to the one at the entrance and determined that the hallway was clear.

"Past this door is the gauntlet. Once we get through that, we should find the AI's." Zero's voice was louder than it should have been in the dark.

"You mean this isn't a massive underground complex?" Raiden asked.

Zero looked surprised, but then he remembered that nobody had really been here before except for Ocelot and himself.

"No. Let me explain. If you don't have clearance, you don't get to the AI's. It's as simple as that. The gauntlet is all the security this place needs. While designing it, I knew I would have to make something that would take out men and machines. I settled on fire. The simulations I ran revealed that nothing can make it more than fifty yards in."

"You go first. When we get to the AI's, you go last." Mantis suggested.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Zero said.

"First we need to try and find out what happened to the people who were supposed to be here. We don't need any surprises. Let's clear this area."

Everyone nodded in agreement. None of the doors were locked. Snake could feel himself start to sweat. It was kind of hot down here. Those who had been stationed in the complex were free to move around in their designated area. The team discovered a cafeteria first, which was completely empty. A massive storage room held an incredible amount of bottles water and food that would never expire. They found a shower room next. Raiden's curiosity revealed the water was still running.

The final room they had to clear was where the staff slept. Snake went in first, as usual. Each bed contained a body. He switched off his light and motioned for his team to halt. None of the bodies revealed any heat with the aid of thermal imaging. Snake went up to one of the beds and pulled back the covers to reveal a truly horrible sight. The person sleeping on the cot had been dead for a very long time.

"Call it a hunch, but I think the AI may have started its little obedience experiments on the people who were supposed to take care of it." Anna said.

"That's exactly what happened. They poisoned themselves. The AI was God to them." Mantis confirmed, reading the aura of the room.

"Nobody in their right mind would have agreed to stay down here forever. I had twenty five people brainwashed. They weren't really needed since the AI's never malfunctioned. The last time I came here to upgrade the AI's they were all fine."

"You're so delightfully evil. Good thing you're on our side!" Solidus said, rolling his eyes.

"When was that?" Meryl asked.

He thought about it for a moment.

"In 2004. The supercomputers can go without upgrades for twenty years. I figured 2004 would be my last visit, so I really made it count. Shortly after that, I found myself in an old age home."

"Maybe these people knew something was wrong with the AI when Emma's virus got to it and when they tried to fix it, the AI killed them!" Raiden stated.

"A lot of good that does us now. Check to make sure there are twenty five bodies in this room." Snake ordered, getting them back to the mission.

When they huddled together, they added up how many bodies they had found.

"Wait, that's only twenty four." Snake said, using his fingers for math.

"Raiden, did you miscount?" Meryl asked, not too impressed.

Raiden turned bright red.

"Maybe." Raiden admitted.

"Thanks, Raiden. I love the smell in this room so much that I really wanted to stay in here another five minutes. Everyone out! I'll do this myself."

They left him in the chamber of the dead. Snake counted the bodies carefully and came up with twenty five. There was one thing that bothered him about the room aside from the mass suicide. Each person had a cot of their own except for one who had been laid out on the floor. Snake thought little of it and rejoined his teammates. He briefly considered shooting at Raiden's feet, but the bullets would probably ricochet and hurt someone. Snake settled on a sneer of contempt.

"Now for the real test." Zero said, walking towards the entrance to the gauntlet.

He leaned into the retinal scanner. The mechanism beeped in approval. He punched in a code on the keypad and the door began opening. It was several inches thick and took quite a long time to completely open due to all the barriers that had to separate. Snake wondered how many pounds of explosives it would take to blow it off of its hinges. A round chamber that branched off into a very narrow hallway awaited them.

If they were not welcome here, the fire would come down through several large pipes jutting out from the ceiling like stalactites of death. They looked vaguely like afterburners and would cremate them almost immediately if activated. A large yellow line had been painted on the floor five feet in directly underneath the first pipe. Zero took a couple of deep breaths, traced the Trinity on his chest, and proceeded forward. He stepped on the yellow strip and closed his eyes, ready for death if it came. A security camera emerged from the wall and examined him for a moment.

Fire didn't descend from the heavens. A silent green light illuminated directly beneath the lens. Zero was in the clear and could still use the gauntlet.

"In theory, this thing shouldn't turn on so long as I'm under it. Let's stay real close to each other when we get moving." Zero explained.

They all nodded. Snake was next in line, keenly aware of how close the massive afterburners were to his head. He made the mistake of looking up and saw a faint flame burning eternally in the darkness, just like a furnace. The sinister yellow line waited for him. He stepped on the line. The security camera hadn't yet retreated behind the wall that would keep it from being destroyed in the unlikely event that an intruder entered the gauntlet. It examined him for a moment.

With Zero nearby, there was nothing it could do. A red light appeared beneath the lens. Zero beckoned Snake to keep moving and he did so. Solidus flipped the camera off as he walked by. Anna stuck her tongue out at it. Mantis smiled brightly and winked. Meryl grabbed her boobs and snarled. Both Mark Two's waved.

Raiden mooned it.

The door closed behind them, packing them in tighter than a can full of sardines. They moved quickly down the bland corridor and could see the door to the AI's in the distance.

"Fifty yards." Solidus announced helpfully as they passed the mark.

Just then a thought occurred to Mantis that was so horrible his blood ran cold and his skin erupted into goosebumps.

_Snake, if you can hear me, nod. _Mantis said through telepathy.

His friend did so.

_If the AI can't kill Zero or us for so long as we are in his company, that doesn't mean it can't trap us to save itself. What if. . ._

Mantis couldn't complete the thought. At the very end of the hallway, one of the pipes began spewing out fire. The heat was immense, even from this distance. Their escape was sealed off when the first pipe above the yellow line activated. This incited a small panic among them.

"It's okay, settle down." Snake said, keeping his head level. "This is just a last ditch effort to keep us from getting in. Big Boss, are you still with us?"

"Affirmative. If I have to, I can send somebody in to get you guys out if Zero feels like sharing the access codes, but that would take time and at this rate I don't think there's going to be a civilized world tomorrow. We're lucky my satellite hasn't been taken out yet or we wouldn't be having this conversation and our Mark Two's would be dead. I've notified Chill Penguin about the situation. If I don't tell her otherwise, she's going to come get you guys out in fifth-teen minutes. Please improvise."

While they spoke, Otacon leaned over and whispered something in Sunny's ear. Her eyes got big and she nodded in agreement. Sunny covertly removed Nanami from the Mark Two and set it down on the floor up against the wall. The other Mark Two put the hard drive in itself. She then pushed the Mark Two to its limits and ran full speed ahead down the corridor as fast as its little legs could take it. The AI was wise to their game and managed to activate one more inferno before she reached the first barrier of fire.

Big Boss was animated, to say the least. He covered his eyes and looked away. Each pipe was large enough to produce a flame that covered ten yards. The Mark Two began melting immediately. Though the armor was bullet proof and could stand up well against more than a few hazards, it hadn't been built to withstand this kind of heat indefinitely. Alerts and warnings chimed on the status display on the monitor to the left of Sunny. They saw nothing but fire. Otacon wondered if this was what hell looked like.

Miraculously, the Mark Two made it passed the fire and crashed into the door leading to the AI's. Their optics were still online and they found themselves in a circular chamber, just like the one at the other end of the gauntlet. The Mark Two was still melting and in terrible shape. Big Boss had to sit down or he would faint. If they had been in there a second longer, it would have been all over. After all, nothing made it passed fifty yards.

The Mark Two found a security console on the wall that appeared to control the fire. Right next to it was a ladder that lead up into the ceiling. A trap door with another security pad prevented access to the room above them, but that wasn't important at the moment. Thankfully it's tentacles were still functional so it could manipulate the keypad.

"Zero, I see something that controls these flamethrowers. What's the code?"

"Twelve, fourteen, nine-teen seventy four." Zero replied.

"That's pretty handy that you have something like that over there." Snake remarked.

"It's used for troubleshooting purposes. If Otacon looks hard enough he'll see a spot where you can get into the ceiling and ensure that these bastards are working right. There's enough fuel in there to keep these flames on for about two thousand hours."

"I take it you never intended to replace the tanks." Anna said.

"No, but I did make sure it could be done, just in case. And in case you're wondering, the gauntlet never failed."

"So twenty five people sat down here for a decade and did next to nothing." Meryl stated.

"Unfortunately." Zero said with a nod.

They all breathed a collective sigh of relief when the flames disappeared, leaving their mark as they went. The floor was blazing hot to the point where it actually began melting their shoes. There was no way Zero could kneel down on it safely and they needed to move quickly before their feet were exposed to the ground. They somehow needed to get Zero to the back of the line.

"Let's crowd surf him!" Solidus suggested.

Zero didn't bother arguing. Snake lifted him up and Zero felt his body being passed down the line until Raiden and Meryl got a hold of him and carried him to safety. The last pipe blazed to life for a brief second, bathing them in pure heat, making them wish they had packed some sunscreen. Otacon switched it off. As if to mock him, three pipes at random intervals became active. He shut those down as well.

"Otacon, I assume you put Nanami in the other Mark Two?" Snake asked, looking down at the crumbled heap in the corner.

"That's right. We're all set to move forward."

Snake turned to his teammates.

"Do not relax. They're not going to let us walk right in."

"He could be right." Zero said as he approached the keypad and retinal scanner.

"Raiden, Solidus, and Mantis. You're with me. We go in first. The rest of you stay out here. Anna, Zero is your responsibility. Keep your eyes on that hatch. Otacon, stay behind until we have the room secure."

Snake readied the rail gun, expecting to have to use it.

"Be careful with that. While the case can take bullets and explosions, it hasn't been tested against a weapon like that." Zero advised.

Snake's heart was beating so hard he could hear it in his ears. The story was finally about to come to a close. He had spent most of his life fighting this war. To be so close to the end was unreal.

"Mantis, I don't suppose I could persuade you to use some remote viewing?" Snake asked.

"Already tried that. There's some interference."

"Of course there is."

Zero entered the code and the door began opening. Snake spotted four rather large opaque red squares. They were big enough to hide behind while standing. In the middle of the room was the main AI. A central console was built into the case that could control all the AI's manually. This was their goal. So long as Otacon could tap into the system, the whole network would be theirs. It came as no surprise that it would take some time to get to it. Ten of the pipes closest to them activated at once, making the area they were standing in potentially lethal if they lingered for too long.

The sudden blast of heat was most unpleasant and caused sunburns immediately in addition to severe disorientation. They needed to get inside the AI room quickly. Two flashbang charges which had been put on either side of the door went off when Snake stepped in. Two Haven soldiers popped out of concealment from the AI's at the far end of the room. Snake cursed and stumbled towards the nearest AI and took cover. The shot meant to take him out hit Raiden instead, incapacitating him immediately.

Solidus thought he was about to die, but the weapon was non lethal and shot out a bolt of electricity that was designed to knock out the target. It was a lot fancier than an XREP and hurt much more than a taser. Solidus was hit right before he could take cover and dropped his rifle to the ground. He hovered on the verge of consciousness for a moment while convulsing on the floor and took out his handgun to return the favor, only to be hit with another round and a bucket full of sweet dreams.

While this happened, Otacon attempted to shut off the fire. As he did, the hatch Anna had been asked to watch opened. She had been sufficiently disoriented by the sudden heat and didn't react in time as a Haven soldier looked down on her through the red dot site of the rife she was carrying. The Haven soldier opened fire on her with the same type of electrical rifle.

Anna was hit. Mantis avenged her while Meryl scooped her off of the floor. The heat had become unbearably painful. Mantis rushed in with his gun ready. He had seen where the two women were hiding and he was ready to take out one and trust Snake to get the other. A new Haven soldier popped around the corner of the AI to his right and took him out. Snake shot her with the rail gun. The charge had been at the second level and vaporized her right before his eyes. Not a good way to go. It also went through her body and punched a rather large dent into the wall.

Snake now assumed there was one soldier hiding behind each AI for a total of four in the room minus the one he had just taken care of. Meryl came in with Anna slung over one shoulder. She held her rifle in one hand and kept Zero protected. The door closed and locked behind them once they entered. Meryl slid to join Snake's side and narrowly avoided the electrical bullet meant for her. Zero tripped over Mantis, did a fancy spin, and fell behind cover.

It had taken less than a minute. Snake looked around for the Mark Two's, but could not see them. If Nanami was stuck behind the wall, they were probably screwed.

"Thank you, David." came a familiar voice.

Glen was speaking and it sounded like he was hiding behind the same AI Snake had chosen.

"I see Big Boss has recovered some of the research I funded. Your gun is the military model. We're using the civilian variant. Both go through body armor like it's nothing. I'm sure in six months or so they'll crank out something that puts more weight on the soldier but protects them against this sort of thing, but none of you will be around to see that." Glen explained.

Otacon had managed to sneak in behind Zero. The door had closed mere centimeters from the Mark Two's heels. Somehow the stealth camouflage still worked, which Otacon was grateful for. He slowly crept around the corner of the AI passed the ashes of the former Haven soldier to do some recon. Otacon and Sunny spotted Glen wearing absolutely no protection hiding behind the AI in the upper left corner of the room. Holding their breath, they moved to the other end of the room where the two Haven soldiers were. The damaged Mark Two was in no condition to fight, but the second unit was doing just fine.

"I have all day. Surrender now and I'll make sure you're not awake when I put you back into the gauntlet." Glen said.

"You can't do that!" Zero said.

"Not you!" Glen snapped. "You're going to spend the rest of your life in this room doped to the gills on morphine under my supervision. I even cared enough to get you a bed from those stupid impressionable zombies you left behind. I really have to thank Big Boss and his cronies for the fact that you're here, though. You see, it was all part of the plan."

"Yeah, right. You're just improvising." Snake said.

"You wish. At this moment I have several units closing in on Pripyat. They will be enough to crush the cavalry Big Boss didn't ride in on. Rays, Rex, Tengu's, Kitty's, Haven. . .all of them controlled by the System. All of them more than enough to win this squabble."

Snake took a moment to don his goggles. Using the X-Ray feature, he was able to make sense of their situation in the way that Otacon had. He also spotted the Mark Two waiting to pounce on one of the Haven soldiers.

"And here you all thought that the atomic bomb was the deadliest thing you created. Not at all. The computer is even more destructive. Don't be shy, now. Let's have ourselves a proper boss battle. The longer you wait, the more I destroy. Snake, it's your move." Glen said.

Meryl didn't know sign language as well as Snake did, but she believed she was able to determine the gist of his plan with the gestures he made. He would take on Glen. Her job was to take care of the other two soldiers in the room. They tried to convey this to Zero, who looked confused and lost. Snake threw his hands up into the air in exasperation and pointed at Zero and then at the AI's on the other side of the room. Zero nodded, but he didn't appear to understand.

With the plan settled, Meryl sprang into action. She fired three rounds into the air, hoping that would be enough to get Otacon to react. It was. The Mark Two latched a tentacle onto the butt of the Haven soldier and gave her a full charge. She was knocked out instantly. Her friend planned on returning fire, but the Mark Two was already hiding. Zero took care of her. Now it was them against Glen. Meryl maneuvered around the protective AI case so that she had a good shot at him. Glen was waiting for her, contrary to what Snake had expected. Meryl didn't even get a chance to fire before she was hit by the stun gun and rendered unconscious.

Glen turned around just as Snake appeared across the way. He shot Snake directly in the shoulder, causing him to drop the rail gun he had a hold of. Glen was incredibly fast as he sprang at Snake, ready to tear him to pieces. He kicked the rail gun out of the way and looked down at Snake, who had managed to remain conscious, but was shaking violently. Glen smirked. While Snake was still in a daze, Glen kicked him in the face, bouncing his head off of the floor. Snake still managed to remain awake. If he passed out, it was game over.

Zero popped around the corner and shot Glen in the head. Sparks flew off as the bullets deflected, tearing the skin away and revealing the prosthetic body underneath. They weren't nearly strong enough to do any major damage. Zero screamed in frustration as Glen raised his taser. He turned down the voltage before he fired the shot since Zero was getting quite old. Glen moved in quickly to catch Zero as he fell, making sure to lie him down gently and check his pulse. His most precious hostage was still alive. With a smile, he stood up and turned around. Snake was hiding. A needle full of adrenaline was lying where he had been. The rail gun was still out in the open.

Glen picked up the rifle Zero was carrying and began looking around for the Mark Two. He switched vision modes and picked out where it had decided to hide. It hadn't moved since it had knocked out the guard. If the Mark Two was destroyed, the mission was over. There were two of them now, but he could clearly see which one had Nanami. Snake felt like hell, but he'd had worse. Using the AI's as cover since they were the only thing to hide behind, he attempted to sneak up behind Glen. The Mark Two was a dastardly little critter and Glen soon found that cornering it was like trying to catch a rabbit bare handed. It didn't help that it was hiding behind an AI. Glen couldn't shoot if he wanted to.

While this happened, Snake realized the rail gun was his only chance. It wasn't very far away, but neither was Glen. There were so many things Snake wanted at that moment. An EMP grenade to keep Glen at bay. A shot of whiskey. Not to get hurt when he tried to get the rail gun back. That one was important. If he could get the rail gun without having to get hurt first, he would donate to the Catholic church for the rest of his life. He wouldn't be able to have anything. With a heave of exertion, he took off toward the rail gun. Glen tackled him, shoving him into the wall with a sick thud and knocking the air out of his lungs. He robbed Snake of his sidearm and placed it on top of an AI. It was within reach should the Mark Two try to access the mainframe and shut him down while he was still in a physical body.

"Would it not be fabulous if our final confrontation was somewhere more epic?" Glen asked as he offered Snake a hand.

Snake stood up without Glen's help, blood pouring from his broken nose. It hurt a lot, but he couldn't afford to think about it.

"On top of a train? In a burning building? Twenty thousand leagues under the sea?"

Glen put his fists up.

"I know every fighting style ever conceived, but since nothing in life is certain you actually have a point one chance of beating me. Make the most of it."

Snake punched Glen across the face. He split his knuckles and almost broke his hand. Snake would have had better luck trying to punch through a bank vault. Glen's head didn't even move. The fight began and all Snake could do was dodge since countering wouldn't work. The situation was practically hopeless, but Snake wouldn't quit until he was dead. There was always the possibility Glen might make some fatal error.

He took his knife out of his harness and managed to shove it through Glen's jaw in an advance so perfect he would never be able to replicate it again. Snake was hoping to get through to the brain, but the knife stopped short and clanked as it hit the skull protecting the CPU, or whatever it was Glen had up there. Glen grabbed the arm that held the knife, twisted it behind Snake's back, and forced him to the floor, keeping his arm pinned for leverage.

Now Glen had his knife. Snake closed his eyes. This might be it. He had done the best he could. Big Boss could still win without him. If anyone could find a way, it was him. His comrades safe in a control room miles away watched in horror, unsure of what they should do. The bodies of those with him were still inert, resting quietly until they were brought back into consciousness by being burned alive. It was a terrible moment.

Glen holstered the knife by shoving it through his own thigh for a moment. He obviously had worse things in mind for his victim. He grabbed Snake by the hair on the back of his head and slammed his face into the ground a couple of times, stamping a bloody impression on the floor and ruining it. Snake was completely at his mercy. Glen flipped him over and sat on top of him. Snake's hands came up to try and do something, anything, but that didn't stop Glen from wailing on him.

With each blow, Snake slipped farther into the dark. Glen painted Snake's face red using the blood pouring from his mouth as a runny palette and his fists as the brushes. After leaving a few angry little red bushes and two black and blue ponds where Snake's eyes were, he seized Snake by the throat and held him up in the air, observing his work.

"Go to sleep." Glen instructed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Glen saw a Mark Two bolt for the mainframe. Snake's friends must have been tired of watching him suffer. A boot sector virus would compromise the AI's immediately. Glen dropped Snake and quickly intercepted the Mark Two, which was mere seconds away from jacking into a USB port. Though he was badly beaten, Snake still had enough strength left in him to quietly reach inside his medical pouch where he pulled out another vial of adrenaline. He jammed the needle into his neck, awaiting the surge of energy it would grant him. Snake began to crawl towards the blurry rail gun, which in his mind was quite literally the light at the end of the tunnel.

Glen held the Mark Two above him like a newborn baby. He wondered if he would be able to find out where Big Boss was hiding with this devilish little device when it stuck a probe in his eye and tried shocking him. That did absolutely nothing. Glen couldn't keep the Mark Two still long enough in his hands to do anything as it secreted oil to free itself from Glen's grip. He threw it on the ground, but it landed on its feet and absorbed the force of the blow. Glen tried to kick it, but the Mark Two danced between his legs, causing him to trip and fall over on his rear in spite of himself.

Snake was mere inches from the rail gun, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. He wondered if he would be able to look at himself in the mirror in the morning. Probably not. That's what facial reconstruction was for. The damaged Mark Two jumped on Glen's chest and began slapping at his face with its tentacles, making a mockery of what it had done to Snake. Glen grabbed it and hurled it against the case of an AI, breaking it. Now they only had one.

Otacon was sweating bullets as he controlled the device. One wrong move and they were done for. He had to be the one who saved Snake. At this point Glen realized the Mark Two's were toying with him so Snake could get to the rail gun. Glen stood up and went for the M1911 resting on top of the same AI he had left it on. The Mark Two leapt onto the AI and jumped in Glen's face to throw off his aim just as he shot at Snake. It struck the wall right next to Snake's ear. The Mark Two wrapped itself around Glen's face while Snake put the hilt of the rail gun against his shoulder to absorb the recoil. Glen tore the Mark Two off of his face. It slipped through his grip before he could tighten his hand into a fist, crushing the little devil.

Snake fired the rail gun at the first level of charge. Glen's head was torn from his body, which slowly smoldered away into a smelly pile of gel. The room was eerily quiet. Only the hum of the computers could be heard as Snake positioned himself so he was now facing the door in case anyone tried to enter. It crossed his mind for a brief moment that he originally didn't want to go to Outpost Two to retrieve this gun. Things would be quite different now if that were the case.

It wasn't over yet. Glen was still active within his own little network and for so long as he was there he could do damage. The Mark Two quietly jacked into the mainframe.

"Otacon, how's it coming?" Snake asked after a moment.

"Excellent. Nanami is quite possibly the most vicious program I've ever seen." Otacon replied. "She is taking over every bit of this entire system far more quickly than we could imagine."

"Otacon. . .what you did back there. . ." Snake said.

"Don't mention it."

"I think I will, Hal." Snake said. "Thanks."

"I am now in control of the System. I have ordered all soldiers who are a part of it to stop fighting. The battle for Pripyat is over. I am currently fooling Russian intelligence and placing all of the blame on Haven. I will now begin repairing the damage that my predecessor has caused. Glen is requesting to deliver one final message." Nanami stated.

"Go ahead." Big Boss stated.

"I hate all of you!" Glen screamed. "How? Why?"

"Be more careful next time. Oh, wait." Big Boss said.

"Shut up! You think it's easy to control the whole world? It's not! Peace isn't constant. There will always be conflict. I can only hope that this decision causes something much worse to be unleashed upon the world because some day you will die, John. What then? Who will you put back in charge?"

"It seems to me that I could just clone myself for the rest of forever." Big Boss said.

"Have fun with that! I leaked all the research for that project to the public. We'll see how well you can cover that up!"

"Do you think it would be possible to partition him so we could always have him with us?" Big Boss asked.

"Inadvisable." Nanami replied immediately.

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, he's served his purpose and I thought he would have something better to say. Kill him."

Nanami did so instantly, not even bothering to give Glen enough time to scream in frustration. Snake smiled painfully and chuckled a little.

"Snake, good work. I can't believe we actually managed to do this. I'm sending someone to recover you now." Big Boss said.

The door to the AI's opened and in stepped Chill Penguin accompanied by a few other soldiers. Things were being said, but Snake couldn't hear anything. Medics were tending to those who had been incapacitated. Chill Penguin walked up to Snake and knelt down in front of him. The last thing he saw before passing out was her giving him a hearty thumbs up.

**NEXT TIME : **Congratulations, Big Boss. You've just taken over the entire world. What are you going to go do now?


	19. Odd Advice

**Chapter 19 : Odd Advice.**

Snake watched Raiden throw another bowling ball into the gutter. They all laughed at him. He shrugged and went back to his seat next to Rose as Mantis retrieved his bowling ball and proceeded to get yet another strike. His friends groaned in disgust and booed at his luck.

"You're cheating, Mantis!" Ocelot said.

"Am not!"

"Are to! That must be why I'm throwing so many gutter balls!" Raiden said.

"You're right about that, but that's as far as my psychokinesis has gone."

After Operation Retcon had ended successfully, the whole team had moved back to Alaska. Big Boss had decided to join them. So much for peace and quiet. The old days had finally returned and it was as if they had never left. While they slacked off, Nanami watched the world. She had been given four extra neural hard drives to enhance her knowledge. One specifically monitored her sanity, effectively holding her at gunpoint should she step out of line. The world Big Boss wanted was still far off. All the changes could not be made in less than a year, but they were making progress. The supercomputer that controlled the world resided in Otacon's home until a proper facility could be built for it.

Big Boss had decided to keep the System in place, which nobody could blame him for. Having most of the world hooked up to it was quite handy. If there was one thing they could agree on with Glen, it was the elimination of terrorism and the System would provide a way to do that. While they left the System alone for now, Nanami was trying to figure out how to regulate the population, redistribute wealth, provide universal health care, recover any fragments of the notes relating to terraformation, and make water out of nothing while everyone else was busy having a good time.

Snake had her help him tie up a few lose ends. He found out that Kyle had died while trying to climb Everest. All by himself. Like an idiot. A fitting end for him, if there ever was one. Drake and Kyoko were among the first psychologically damaged children to receive nanomachine treatment to reverse their mental instability. They were currently showing good progress in their recovery from the insanity Snake had inadvertently bestowed upon them. They were also hooked up to the System and if someone was feeling rather devious, they could make the children go nuts again.

Irving Washington had taken over the Praying Mantis while Psycho Mantis was absent. Mantis promptly fired him and resisted the urge to manipulate him into becoming a sex offender. Liquid's personality remained dormant, although the arm had moved out of Ocelot's attic and had become a centerpiece at his home. He had taken it out briefly to attach the hand back to the arm with the help of Mend. It was still usable should he ever feel the need to slap it on if he somehow lost his hand again and didn't want to wait for a new one to be grown. Ocelot continued taking medication for the nightmares he kept having of Liquid. He'd be banging some anime chick and then suddenly she would turn into Liquid, spoiling all of his fun. Mantis offered to help him out, but he declined.

Anna and Chill Penguin became roommates and joined FOX-PALS. With the way things had gone, they both had decided it was time to retire from the military. Who exactly had custody of Sunny became a concern. She was a great help around the lab with Otacon. Olga didn't think Alaska was a good place to raise a child, but she relented when Sunny requested to join them on their trip back. She didn't marry Jacob, but they shared Sunny without any problems. Now Sunny and Otacon were busy building robots together.

Naomi continued monitoring FOXDIE and resumed her work at the Praying Mantis. Eva remained in command of Nighthawk. Meryl was no longer Snake's roommate. She had finally grown out of that phase and moved on. Johnny had seen this as an opening, but Meryl would have nothing to do with a character that had said less than twenty lines throughout this entire story. Mei Ling had decided she could start dating again. Campbell still hated Campbell's Soup.

It was all a major relief. The world hadn't changed much, but Nanami was working on that. Solidus went up to bowl. Ocelot hadn't killed him yet. Big Boss had asked him not to and Ocelot decided it was no longer worth it, considering all that had happened. Snake was content for the first time in years. He couldn't ask for anything better. Snake was worried about Nanami's loyalty and the fact so many people were involved in this whole game, but they were all still friends.

"So what I think should happen as a way of controlling the population is that we should take the social stigma off of suicide." Ocelot said, very drunk. "We can have all these clinics set up all over the place and if someone wants to die, we'll give them the needle ourselves. Hell, we should let teenagers do it too so long as they can get their parents to sign a release. There's also a bunch of jail terms that need to be revised. Do we really need to keep people in prison for more than six months just because they're smoking meth? Hey, let's let them do it without fear of being arrested! They would kill themselves and that would help with population control even more!"

"You're a genius." Anna said sarcastically.

"I think he has a point!" Chill Penguin said.

Snake shook his head. Ocelot certainly had no shame.

"We should find the most delicious fish ever and then clone it a thousand times and share it with everyone! There, I just solved world hunger! Beat that!" Solidus proclaimed.

"You sure know how to handle your liquor, Solidus." Olga said.

"Don't provoke him." Campbell requested.

"What are we going to do about oil?" Raiden asked.

"What do you mean?" Meryl asked.

"Well, aren't we running out of it?"

"That's bullshit!" Solidus said. "If we were that hard up for oil, you wouldn't be able to get a toy with your Happy Meal at McDonald's because they couldn't afford to waste the oil required to make plastic. I think we need to start getting cars to run on grease or whatever the hell it is that those people on the Discover Channel put inside their vehicles."

"It's called biodiesel." Otacon said.

"Maybe we can just clone the oil like your fishes." Naomi suggested.

"Go to hell!"

"What are we going to do about money?" Mei Ling asked.

"We'll leave that to Nanami for now. Unfortunately, we can't just suddenly go back to the gold standard. More money exists now than can be backed up by anything of value. The world runs on credit." Big Boss explained.

"Don't tell anyone, it's a secret." Zero said.

Mantis took a seat next to him and fidgeted for a moment as Solidus gained a strike.

"Something bothering you?" Snake asked.

"Actually, I need to tell you something. I've waited for a long time until the perfect moment and that's now. Do you remember when your dogs started talking to you?"

Snake recalled it in vivid detail. There wasn't a week that went by that he didn't think about it. If not for that, he didn't know where he would be right now. He wondered how exactly Mantis knew about that and he was sure lying wouldn't do him any good, so Snake replied with a nod.

"Yeah. That was me." Mantis said.

He could not believe he hadn't thought of it before, but it all made sense.

"Thanks."

"Thanks? I hadn't expected that." Mantis said.

If not for Mantis, Snake would have probably been a shut-in until Big Boss had arrived. He would not have had a chance to build on all the friendships he had. However, he was not going to say this to Mantis.

"If you ever do something like that again, I swear I'm going to break your neck, but. . ."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I just wanted to get that off of my chest. I always felt bad for doing it." Mantis said.

"Good, because you should seeing as how you've inadvertently killed a couple of people like that."

Sunny managed to get a strike.

"Look at that! She bowls better than you, Raiden!" Solidus pointed out.

Ocelot sluggishly went up to the ball return. He chuckled and made a show of putting his hand into the device as if he were going to lose his fingers. Everyone laughed.

"Remember what I said earlier. This party is going to last the whole week!" Solidus declared.  
"Somebody go get me another margarita."

"I think you've had enough." Eva said.

"Here we are in control of the entire world and all you can think about is drinking." Big Boss said.

He picked up his beer.

"Like father, like son." Big Boss said as he guzzled his beverage.

**X**

Nanami's existence was a dark one. They were building her an avatar, but for now she was merely a bunch of numbers rolled into one small package, almost like God Himself. Managing the entire world require a great deal of humans, but she did it very well all by herself. As she prepared propaganda to convince people to side with her on a particularly sensitive issue, she noticed something in the system. A flicker. A disturbance.

She had already gotten rid of the twin. It had been easy for something that didn't possess any emotions. Nanami hadn't yet printed off the poem she made for Snake shortly before she overwrote her copy thirty seven times. Whatever this was that caught her attention, it couldn't have anything to do with that. Or could it?

_Forever. Always._

The sanity monitored threw a flag. Nanami didn't like that at all. She would have to explain herself in a manner that would convince Big Boss that it was nothing to worry about. This would be impossible. She looked into the disturbance a little further, all the while remembering the suspicion Big Boss and Solid Snake shared together. That this whole thing could have been part of some bigger plot. Then it was gone. She made a note to follow up on it later and went back to her work, floating freely in the dark sea of information.

**The End.**


	20. Author's Notes

**Author's Notes.**

* Planning for this story began immediately after the last story was finished. That was such a long time ago. Even before Metal Gear Solid 4. I lost a good deal of my notes, but I do remember that the story being completely different in the beginning. Most of my personal predictions for Metal Gear Solid 4 proved to be true, which delighted me.

* Their first target was a politician. He told them about a run down inner city middle school that had a very old computer that still read data off of a cassette drive. On that particular cassette was the key to finding the location of the Patriots. Snake was sent in to retrieve it and had to fight with the janitor, who happened to be a Guardian of the Patriots.

* They manage to trap Crazy Colonel Campbell in a cyber café while he's playing a game of Warcraft with them. They then begin to interrogate the AI, but a squad of Haven soldiers intervenes.

* The bosses were originally based on Japanese mythology. There were supposed to be Vultures, which were flying Metal Gear's, but they were cut. The Berserker, a man in a very powerful exoskeleton, was supposed to fight them at some point.

* I wanted to do a few scenes in homage of Snake's Revenge. I managed to get them on a boat, but I could not think of a good reason to have them be on a train. I also wanted them to be stranded on an island after their plane crashes, but that didn't happen either. There was also a large facility they were supposed to destroy that made Haven clones. I think I probably should have included that part.

* Shadow Raccoon came back in the form of a Shadow Lord and haunted Snake's dreams for a while. Then he simply came back as a new opponent. Then I cut him from the story.

* The opening went through three revisions. In one, Ocelot narrates what has happened so far in a touching letter to Big Boss. In the other, Glen seethes amongst the other AI's and plans to overthrow them. In the final one, they are actually on a plane. Big Boss gets so mad at Cousin Mai for speaking in several different languages at once that he hits her, which unintentionally knocks her out, sending the plane into a free fall until Big Boss can get her out of the seat.

* Vulcan Raven, Sniper Wolf, Vamp, Gray Fox, and Decoy Octopus were all supposed to be in this story. Vamp and Octopus didn't work out. Octopus was supposed to be Kyle, the idiot from the Praying Mantis. He made the mistake of mimicking his cousin and it got out of hand. Raven and Wolf didn't survive the edit. They had their own places in the story and a few lines, but in the end they didn't really shine since there were so many other characters to address so I cut them out. In the scene where the team is in Australia, Snake actually leaves Wolf, Raven, and Chill Penguin behind. They have to take a second jet to the island.

* Ocelot tries to take revenge against Gray Fox by cutting off _his_ hand with a machete, but he short circuits during the procedure and knocks Ocelot off his feet.

* The clone of Snake they encounter was originally much more incompetent. His name was Daryl and he spent his day eating Cheeto's, drinking Metal Beer, and watching reality television. One of the quests the team had to embark on was gathering up all the extra Big Boss clones. He happened to be one of them. Daryl evolved into Jacob, a much more competent clone.

* Sunny and Jacob had an extensive introduction sequence.

* I wanted to do something what that haunted flamethrower from the last story.

* Big Boss' villa was full of spies that were constantly trying to kill him.

* "I send you a spider, bitches!" This is a reference from Phantoms, by Dean R. Koontz. It is an absolutely terrible book.

* "In my mystery. . ." A reference to Nicodemus, a powerful mage in Ultima VI : The False Prophet.

* Ruulr Ziela. That's Al Bhed for Hooch Juice. What's that from? Why, the Metal Gear Solid II / Final Fantasy X crossover that I revised, of course.

* Each AI was originally supposed to control some aspect of the world. One controlled money, the other controlled war, that sort of thing. This played into the plot. Each AI was in a separate location and they would have had to go and retrieve each one. I believe one possible location was in a museum.

* The location of the Patriots was something I spent a very long time thinking about. At one point they were in the middle of the Amazon jungle. The team would have been abducted by cannibals who sought to sacrifice them to the Howling Cave, which is where the AI's would have been found.

* Glen was not defeated quite as easily in the original version. He took possession of a Rex and went on a rampage.

* My notes say something about a time machine.

* The ending is not hinting at a sequel to this. I'd rather not write another Metal Gear story. I did not want there to be a "and they all lived happily ever after" ending. If something bad were to arise from what evaded Nanami, Big Boss could handle it. Could it have been GW? Could it have been her alter ego? Maybe the Illuminati? Let's say for the sake of watering the whole thing down that it's her alter ego and that could potentially cause a few minor problems that could be fixed over the course of thirty additional pages.

* Special thanks goes to Matto-sama, who read the whole story in one day. It took him five hours, apparently.

That's it. Bye, Metal Gear! It's been fun, I guess!


End file.
